


Chain, keep us together (running through the shadows)

by naivesilver



Series: Land of Chaos Verse [2]
Category: Sonic Forces - Fandom, Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Violence, Established Relationship, F/F, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, a few other characters will make an appearance but I can't tag them all, sonic forces au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2019-10-14 02:46:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 30,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17500103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naivesilver/pseuds/naivesilver
Summary: Eggman kidnaps Sonic, and it kickstarts a worldwide rebellion. Everyone knows that story.Stories change, though. Especially if some people who should have never come back to Mobius join the fray.-Or, Chaos has granted Blaze and Tikal a lifetime of peace...But can it really last that long?





	1. Prelude (to the storm)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Whom It May Concern:  
> this is, as you can see, a Forces AU. However, since I want to rewrite pretty much everything that happened in the game (and fix some stuff, 'cause eh), you don't need to have played the game to read this story.  
> What you MIGHT want to do is read the first part of this series, if you haven't already done so. That's quite necessary, to understand what's going on here.  
> If these warnings haven't scared you off, then sit back, relax and enjoy the story. Cheers <3

“Tikal, come here a second”.  
The young echidna turned around. Blaze was sitting on the grass, staring at the lake with a frown on her face.  
Tikal moved closer to her, confusion filling her more and more with every step. It was not unusual for Blaze to ask for company, when looking in the pool for visions of her homeworld: gone were the days when the cat would want to be completely alone in moments like these. And Tikal herself usually didn’t wander too far at those times, ready to laugh at Blaze’s scoffing reaction to their friends’ antics.  
It _was_ unusual, though, for Blaze to look so troubled while gazing at the water.  
“What is it?” Tikal asked, kneeling on the grass next to her. She followed Blaze’s hand as it gestured to the water, and found herself matching her friend’s frown.  
She had expected to see Silver’s now-familiar face reflected on the surface, as he went on with whatever bizarre adventure he might have flung himself into. Blaze had picked up the habit to keep pace with his daily life, as if trying to follow his timeline even as she lived in a world without time.  
(Tikal couldn’t begrudge her for it, not really: she had started doing the same with Knuckles and Sonic and their friends after she had met them.  
It had been the reason she had known of Blaze’s impending arrival, after all).  
She hadn’t expected the pond to show her something akin to a blurry TV screen.  
The comparison came instantly to her mind, even if she had never used screens in her first life. She had seen enough of them in past visions that she knew no other description could come so close to whatever she was seeing now. It was impossible to make out a scene; colors kept mingling together, and the whole picture was confused, glitching as if it couldn’t be transmitted properly.  
“Is it supposed to happen?” Blaze asked, voice low and unsteady. Tikal knew that if she looked up, she’d probably see a look of deep confusion etched on the other’s usually unperturbed face. She didn’t have the echidna’s experience in this field: chances were that she was more perplexed than scared, relying on Tikal to tell her that there was nothing to worry about, to make jokes about Chaos’ unreliable TV antenna.  
But Tikal couldn’t joke, nor could she look up: her gaze was locked on the water, as if transfixed by something that was in equal parts mesmerizing and unsettling. She squinted, trying and failing to focus on the shapes moving on the water. They kept fading, blending in with the red surrounding them.  
_Wait._  
_Red?_  
She leaned closer to the water, as if it could help her understand what was happening. True enough, the whole image had a reddish hue that would be fitting for the inside of a furnace or a volcano, and not for the grey and black futuristic city Silver usually wandered around in.  
It made the water look like blood. It was sickening to watch.  
“Tikal?”  
Finally, she snapped out of her reverie and looked up. Blaze was staring at her in open concern, a hand hovering in the air as if ready to grab her and shake her back to attention.  
Tikal took that hand and squeezed it, trying to make sense of what she had seen. She felt slightly dizzy, and she was grateful she had sat down to begin with. She had a feeling she’d be more than a little unsteady on her feet.  
“No” she said in the end, fighting against the knot in her stomach. “This…this is not supposed to happen. Something’s wrong.”  
But even as Blaze tried to get an explanation out of her (or maybe to comfort her- her ears were ringing, she couldn’t quite make out the words), Tikal couldn’t define _what_ exactly could be wrong. She didn’t know what she should do, what she COULD do, stuck in this world as she was.  
And still the water swirled in front of her, the glitching picture so red that it hurt her eyes.

 

Now, Sonic couldn’t say that he was upset about the change of plans for the day.  
Of course, Eggman clearly needed a new hobby that wasn’t wrecking stuff with his robots, and the more he saw of Green Hill’s ruined landscape the angrier he got, but crashing the mad doctor’s plans was always a fun distraction. It spiced up what would have been his usual run.  
He hadn’t liked Tails’ tone over the comm, thought. When the fox had called for his help he had rushed on, hoping to get there before the situation got too dire. Sonic was pretty sure his best friend could save himself even with the barest amount of help, but. You know. It never hurt to be safe.  
He slowed his pace as he entered the city from where Tails’ call had come from. Eggman’s bots were all over the place, but from what he had gathered the doctor himself couldn’t be far from the city center.  
And…there. That couldn’t be anyone else. Sonic smirked and pushed on, crashing the scene at high speed.  
And what a wonderful scene, too. Eggman was setting some of his metallic pawns on a bunch of harmless citizens, laughing as if it were the peak of evilness. Tails had put himself between the robots and the other people, grimacing as he stood his ground.  
His grimace turned into a smile, though, as Sonic swooped in and made short work of the robots. The hedgehog flashed a thumbs up at him as the rest of the citizens cheered on. “You okay there, Tails?”  
“Yeah, thanks” the fox replied, nodding. “Cutting it kind of close, though. I’d started to think you wouldn’t come around.”  
“And lose all the fun? You’d have to pay me for it.” Sonic turned around, regaling Eggman with a bright smile. “Hello, doc! Mind telling me what all the fuss is about?”  
In truth, he couldn’t wait for the moment Eggman would inevitably spill out every detail of his new plan. The whole thing seemed in the old man’s style-big bad bots sprouting from every corner, destroying buildings and terrorizing people- but there was something nagging at Sonic’s brain, a doubt he couldn’t quite place his finger on. He had felt it in the air even while he’d been running through the ruined Green Hill, as if even the mechanical minions around him were waiting for something to happen.  
But no, perhaps it was just that there seemed to be more robots walking around at the same time than usual. It looked as if Eggman had brought out the big guns this time.  
The doctor himself seemed even more confident than in past encounters (and wasn’t that a huge feat, given his bloated ego). He didn’t look at all fazed by his pawns’ demise, instead going on with his irritating chuckle. “Ah, Sonic! I couldn’t wait for you to join us! You’re just in time to meet my ultimate creation!”  
That said, he started laughing, floating further and higher away on his little hovercraft. Sonic rolled his eyes. Go figure: the one time he wanted to listen to Eggman’s monologues, the man didn’t feel like saying anything useful. The blue hedgehog ran ahead and jumped, expecting to collide with the Egg Mobile.  
Instead, he felt another shape crashing into his side, sending him on a rough landing on the pavement.  
“What the…” He groaned, searching for the newcomer as he got up. What had Eggman got out of his closet, this time?  
But it was not a _what_ as much as a _who_ , he realized a second later, freezing in his place. For standing in front of him with a grim expression on his face was none other than Shadow.  
_No. That’s not possible._ The last time he’d heard of Shadow, the guy had been out on a mission with Rouge and Omega. There was no way he could be standing there at Eggman’s side unless that mission had gone terribly, horribly wrong, and even then it would have made zero sense, because…  
Sonic didn’t have the time to make sense of what he was seeing. Two other figures landed on the ground next to Shadow, two figures who were as out of place there as the black hedgehog was: Metal Sonic and Chaos.  
Eggman was still laughing, hovering over their heads. “Well, aren’t you happy to see your old friends?” He asked, throwing his hands in the air. “Don’t worry, there’s a new one who so wants to meet you!”  
Another person was making its way towards them. They didn’t walk, instead floating a couple inches from the ground, and Metal and Shadow moved almost mechanically, leaving space for them so that they could stand right in front of Sonic.  
It was hard to determine who or what they could be. They wore a mask, from which only one eye peeked out, glinting yellow in the purple-red aura of light that surrounded them. The rest of them was covered with black fur, with long locks of white hair hanging from their head. In the middle of their chest was embedded some kind of gem, red as blood.  
They didn’t speak. They just stood there, regarding Sonic with a cold gaze, as if daring him to make the first move.  
Which he did, of course. He had no idea who this guy could be (he was pretty sure that it was a guy, though he could be wrong), but Eggman had presented him as some sort of new challenger, and Sonic had no time for challenges when the doctor was burning up some of his favorite spots.  
Now when Shadow had apparently changed side in the space of a few days.  
So he sprinted ahead, aiming to crash into the stranger’s face…and found himself stumbling a few feet from where he’d been before.  
Mr Masked-and-Mysterious had moved aside impossibly fast, avoiding his attack.  
He heard Tails shout in surprise, and Eggman going on with his chuckle, but the shock Sonic felt was somehow numbing down everything that happened around him. The guy had just…moved.  
He’d been faster than Sonic himself.  
The hedgehog shook himself and tried to attack again. He had no time to just stand there uselessly. Maybe it had been just a lucky move on the other’s part.  
But no matter what he did, the stranger kept getting out of the way, and ultimately, he started hitting back, sending Sonic to crash on the surrounding walls and on the ground.  
It didn’t seem possible, to have such an enemy confront him, but it was happening. And the blue hedgehog was starting to lose ideas.  
“Tails, get the other people out of here!” He yelled at some point, but his thoughts were getting fuzzy and confused. Perhaps he should have asked Tails to intervene, to do something at least. Perhaps Tails had been doing just so for ages, and Sonic hadn’t noticed after getting too many hits in the head.  
In the end, he wasn’t even sure whether Shadow and the other bad guys (who shouldn’t have been there to begin with, damn, what was happening?) had joined the fight or if it was just the one with the mask who had surrounded Sonic with endless copies of himself, making him fight against dozens of yellow eyes.  
He wasn’t sure on how he ended up laying on the ground, his body drained of all energy, but when he tried to stand up the creature was still in front of him, staring down at him in complete silence.  
“I think we’re done here” he heard Eggman say, from somewhere above his head. “Let’s get back. We have a lot of work to do.”  
The stranger nodded; a strange light erupted from the gem in his chest, so red and bright that it was impossible to look at it directly. Sonic closed his eyes, hoping to shield them just for a moment, before getting up to fight again.  
Instead, he found himself drifting off. Everything around him faded to black, and he didn’t feel anything for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Fancy seeing you here.  
> I had mentioned I wanted to build some sort of universe around my previous fic, because by changing the events as I did I opened up a whole new world of possibilities.  
> Am I gonna regret this? Possibly. But if we hang on tight and you don't mind a bit of angst, we might see the end of this together.  
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and that if you did, you might leave a comment or some kudos to let me know. Lots of love <3  
> PS English is not my first language. I reread and edit as much as I can, but if you STILL find a mistake, please let me know! I'll be grateful for the help.  
> PPS No Zavok cause I'm a bad fan and when I first saw him in the game I was. Puzzled. And even now that I looked him up I don't think he's useful in any way. If there are any Zavok fans out there, I'm sorry


	2. 'Cause I'm only a crack (in this castle of glass)

**_A few months later…_ **

If anyone had told pre-war Gadget how his life would have turned out, he probably wouldn’t have believed them, the poor sod.  
Not that the Gadget of now was any less surprised by what had happened around him. Going from a quiet job in the outskirt of his city to joining the higher ranks of a military resistance in the span of a couple months wasn’t exactly a common career. And now here he was, bumping shoulders with the world’s most famous heroes on a daily basis.  
And hearing their orders in his earpiece, as it turned out. “Keep your eyes open, rookie” came Knuckles’ voice, rough and concise. “We got disturbed signals from a few roads ahead”.  
Gadget muttered and agreement and pushed on. “Disturbed signals” were the code words for something he didn’t really want to see, but he couldn’t turn around and run away like a frightened child. He had orders, and Knuckles trusted him. No point in deluding everyone just because he was a little squeamish.  
The wolf wandered through the streets, keeping an eye out for any Eggbots who might cross his paths. He was supposed to be a scout, checking the area for any robots to crush or civilians to get to a safe place: standard business, nowadays. But he hadn’t seen much robots, and no people at all, so he had to press on in the hope of learning something useful about their enemies’ plans.  
Maybe there was a military name for what he was doing, because _wasting time_ didn’t sound so fierce. Manning the perimeter? Intense scouting?  
How was he even supposed to know? He wasn’t a soldier. He wanted to be a school teacher, for the Goddess’ sake.  
Gadget shook his head, trying to refocus on his duty. That was the problem of going out alone: either you were running for your life, adrenaline rushing to your brain, or you started getting lost in your thoughts to ignore the explosions going off in the distance.  
But he couldn’t get distracted now. He had reached the place Knuckles had mentioned to him. He hoisted up the Wispon Tails had given him and rounded the corner.  
And there it was, no less unsettling than the first time Gadget had seen it. He ground his teeth, resisting the urge to look away.  
It was an unsettling sight, though. It looked like a crack in a wall, only there was no wall behind it, and it was way bigger than a crack had any right to be. It fluctuated in the air, fifteen feet tall at least, a gaping black wound in the middle of the street.  
Well. Not completely black. While looking in the center of it was like being plunged into pure darkness (how was the phrase again? _Stare into the void until it stares back at you?_ ), its outline was made of those red cubes that seemed to sprout out of every corner nowadays. They appeared to vibrate in front of his eyes, shifting and trading places, changing the gap’s appearance ever so slightly. Their color was so bright that it hurt Gadget’s eyes.  
But then again, there had been so much red around them all lately that this thing hardly made a difference. Even the sky had been turned purple-red by the smoke and vapors from burning cities. And of course, he’d seen way too much blood for his liking to be bothered by some…cubes.  
Still. The whole thing was disturbing. It looked as if it had been ripped out of a horror movie, and the ones appearing all around the conquered world had been pretty much the same. A land full of terrifying cracks. And of course, those cubes usually marked the appearance of one of their most fearsome enemies.  
Gadget had never physically met the guy, but he was not in a rush to. All he knew was that he wore a mask, he was faster and stronger than everyone else he knew, and that he had taken Sonic the Hedgehog, lowering their chances of actually saving the world at pretty much zero.  
Not a nice guy, all in all.  
Also, they said he was keen on appearing out of nowhere, as if he was capable of magic. You thought you were fighting something in front of you, and then POOF, he was behind you, ready to kick the back of your head and sort out your squadron with a snap of his fingers.  
Gadget didn’t know how much he should believe of _that_. People said any sort of thing during a war. Their communication tools weren’t the best, even if their mechanics were doing their best to keep everyone connected, so when a rumour started circulating, it was hard to prove it wrong.  
For example, they said that cracks like the one in front seemed to leave objects on the ground, when they disappeared. Scraps of metal, old clothes, things that the soldiers on patrol had sworn hadn’t been there before the crack in question had popped out of existence. Rumour had it that unsuspecting passerbys had been sucked away by some of those infernal holes, too.  
Gadget didn’t believe those stories, either, and neither did Knuckles and the others, but they had asked him to keep watch until something happened. Be it the finding of a civilian or his kidnapping by that bloody crack.  
The orange wolf was prepared for a dull, if tense, waiting. There was not much to do, beside keeping his guard up for incoming bots. Even his earpiece was silent, except for the odd static crackling, now and then. He tried not to stare too much into the…thing a few feet from him, though his gaze was drawn to it almost hypnotically. Being in close proximity to the crack made him feel slightly nauseous, on the verge of a headache, just like he had felt the previous times he had encountered one of those horrors.  
He had read that stuff like that happened when you were invested by radiations. Hey, maybe the cracks were radioactive, too! What a wonderful way to spice up the danger he was in!  
While he was silently scolding himself for planting such dark thoughts in his own head, though, something shifted. He felt the ground under his feet start to vibrate, and he turned around, trying the locate the source of the problem. Was some new machine monstrosity approaching, ready to blow his head off?  
But it would have to be real big and heavy to cause such a ruckus, and he couldn’t see anything of the sort. In fact, it was eerily quiet, except for the slight shaking under him. It was just him and the crack, and that hadn’t moved an inch from where it stood.  
Except…  
_Wait a second._  
The crack hadn’t moved, but it seemed to have changed in the split second Gadget had been distracted. The red cubes were oddly still, almost solidifying the shape of the hole, and the latter’s black interior was pulsating, flashes of red light appearing here and there. Had it been a real scar and not a giant abomination, he would have expected it to start oozing blood.  
Gadget took a step forward, raising the Wispon in a surprisingly steady hand. His survival instinct was screaming at him to just _run_ , for the Goddess’ sake, but he was a soldier now. He needed to do his duty, and to see what would happen. Even if shooting at the void would probably be useless.  
They stood there for what felt like an eternity, the shaking ground and blinding light enough to make Gadget feel dizzier than before. Nevertheless, he stood his ground and waited.  
Finally, something snapped. Suddenly, the pavement stopped vibrating, and for an instant, the crack seemed to grow even bigger, a vortex of swirling red and black.  
Then, a person toppled out of it.  
Gadget had no time to react to the surprise (because this certainly had never happened, not even to the greater telltales of the resistance) before the hole closed, disappearing in a flash of light.  
Just like every other crack had done since the beginning of the war.  
The wolf was at loss of what to do. This had no precedent at all. He pointed his Wispon at the figure on the ground, unsure on whether to put it down or shoot the stranger point blank. After all, it might be a trap. That thing was shaped like a person, but so did half the creatures they were fighting against.  
It wasn’t moving, though. From that distance, it was just a lump of white fur collapsed in the dust.  
Maybe they were dead. Or hurt.  
Gadget hesitated a few more seconds, shifting from one foot to the other. Then, following a spur-of-the-moment urge, he started walking towards the creature, slowly but steadily getting closer.  
He didn’t put the Wispon down, though.  
When he was a couple feet from the lump, he stopped and looked down at it, frowning. It still looked like a person: a hedgehog, specifically, with silver-white fur and long quills. They didn’t look particularly hurt anywhere, but their eyes were closed, as if they were passed out.  
_Or dead._  
“Hey” he tried calling out, his voice automatically coming out as a whisper. He grimaced and tried again, forcing the words out. “Hey! You there! Get up!”  
Nothing. Gadget sighed, braced himself for his probable impending death, and closed the distance before prodding the stranger with the tip of his foot.  
Still no sign of life. Maybe they were really dead. But no, now that he was close enough he could see their chest rising and falling slowly, so either he was imagining things or they were breathing.  
And they had yet to attack him, so Gadget cursed silently and threw all caution to the wind. He grabbed the stranger’s shoulder and shook it as roughly as he could.  
This time, the reaction was immediate. The hedgehog opened their eyes and jumped up so violently that Gadget instinctively took a step back, raising the Wispon once again.  
“Where am I?” They asked, voice urgent. Their - his? Gadget wasn’t sure – breath was ragged, and the hedgehog was more or less kneeling on the ground propped up on one hand, but the other arm was raised, pointed menacingly at Gadget. The palm of the hand was glowing, not the red light of their enemies but a bright blue, and the wolf found himself staring at it with fascination for a couple of seconds before snapping back to attention.  
But he couldn’t manage to form a reply (and what sort of thing was he supposed to say? _You’re under arrest?_ He wasn’t prepared for this) before something passed in the hedgehog’s eyes, and he looked around, looking downright puzzled. “Wait, what… _when_ is this, exactly?”  
That was too much. Gadget had seen enough for one day; he wanted to go back to his bunk and sleep the day away, not to deal with someone who looked crazy as much as ready to pass out again.  
He didn’t think the other guy was dangerous, though. He wasn’t sure what had given him the impression, but he trusted his instincts on that front, enough to decide to lower the Wispon and raise a hand. To steady which one of them, he didn’t know.  
“Don’t worry” he said, trying to keep his voice even and loud enough to hear. “I’m…I’m calling someone. To help.”  
Though, Gadget felt the urge to add while he turned on his comm to call Knuckles or someone of that kind, he wasn’t really sure that they didn’t have anything to worry about. He had just witnessed something without precedent in their line of work: what would their higher ranks say after learning that now the cracks were apparently spitting out people?  
What were they supposed to _do_ with that piece of information?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There comes my boy Gadget! I chose to use him instead of a random custom OC because a) it makes things a bit easier b) SEGA hasn't told us much about him (shame on you, SEGA) so there's space for headcanons and I have. A lot of headcanons. So I hope I'll be able to fit some of my ideas in this fic.  
> (Yes, someone else popped up in this chapter. We all know who. I also want you to know that he'll have plenty of time to shine during this fic cause I love him too much to ever be able to ignore him)  
> I have no update schedule whatsoever so you can expect me to send out chapter at any given moment, be it two days or a month after the latest chapter. I apologize in advance for when the delay will get too extreme - real life shenanigans have been disrupting my Sonic fic writing times since 2011 and they probably won't stop anytime soon.  
> Lots of love, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	3. I fell right through the cracks and now I'm trying to get back (before the cool done run out)

“What year is this, then?” Silver tried asking again.  
The orange wolf just stared at him, puzzled. He looked as if Silver were a madman, a lunatic appeared just to confuse him.  
Which probably wasn’t far from the truth. Silver had no idea of how he might be looking from the outside, but he felt as if his brain had been used as a ping pong ball, and when he’d tried to stand up he’d staggered on his feet for a good few seconds. He doubted that that could make for a good first impression.  
He just hoped he wouldn’t give in to the nausea and start puking, or worse, pass out again. It would be a surefire way to never be taken seriously again.  
Still, he really would have liked an answer for his question. He knew that it had to sound weird to people not used to time-travel, but it was important info to start orienting himself. Especially because the place he’d been tossed into looked vaguely familiar, but Silver couldn’t piece out where he’d already seen it. It looked like a rather dull city, with more ruin and dirt than most lands he’d visited in his travels.  
And less people, too. From what he could see, it was only him and the strange wolf around there. Weird.  
He wasn’t getting any useful answers, though, so he groaned and switched his focus. “Where am I? What is this place?”  
The wolf’s ears perked up, but he still hesitated a few seconds before replying: “My gear says Boulder City. I…I don’t know much more.”  
Boulder City. It didn’t sound any specific bells, but that hardly meant anything. Silver had visited so many times and towns that he could barely remember half of them. “And your name is…?”  
“Gadget” the other said. The hand holding his weapon twitched, as if he was considering raising it again, but mercifully it stayed at his side. “And yours?”  
“I’m Silver”. The dizziness he’d first felt after waking up was dissipating, leaving space for a headache that would no doubt spread through his brain in a matter of minutes. What a wonderful way to start one’s day. “So, Gadget, do you have any idea how I ended up here?”  
“You fell. From the crack” Gadget replied promptly.  
That was surprising unhelpful. In fact, it only served to confuse him further. “The…crack?”  
The wolf nodded frantically. “The crack in the air. Haven’t you ever seen one?”  
Silver shook his head. He was starting to question which one of them might have gone crazy: whatever Gadget was saying made no sense.  
Unless Silver had been pulled into this place by some time vortex, while travelling from one place to the other. It wouldn’t have been the first time. Nearly half the times he’d tried to reach a specific age year his journey had been diverted and he’d ended up seeing ages he wished he’d never visited.  
Except that, from the way Gadget had talked about it, this “crack” was a common occurrence around here. So either time-travelling was not that big of a deal in this place (and wasn’t that an unsettling thought) or Silver had been victim of something else.  
Besides, from what he could remember, he HADN’T been on the move when he’d lost consciousness. Unless he’d banged his head and lost some pieces of his memory, he’d been minding his business, wandering around the metropolis his new, Iblis-free future offered. It was a big city, and even after spending some time exploring it, it was so different from the ruins of his childhood that he always ended up discovering some new spot to dwell in.  
He vividly recalled turning around a corner to check on a patch of grass and plants that had surprisingly started growing despite the steel and smog surrounding the area. That, and then nothing else. Pitch black, until Gadget had roughly shaken him awake.  
Dammit, nothing was making _sense_!  
Gadget had probably mistaken the out-of-focus look on his face for an expression of concern, because he hurriedly tried to comfort him: “Don’t worry! I called my commander, he’ll know what to do. We’re going to help you.”  
“Yeah, thanks. Your…commander?” Silver didn’t like that one bit. A place with commanders was a place with an army, and he wanted to stay well out of any war unless he could do something to stop it.  
He wondered idly if he had been wrong in not knocking Gadget out and running for his life. With his head pounding as it was now, he wasn’t sure he would even be able to use his telekinesis, much less use it effectively to disarm the guy, but he could have tried. Maybe he’d been a naïve idiot again, and this _commander_ would just shoot him and get rid of him, scolding Gadget for not doing it on his own.  
Or maybe he could trust his guts for once, and this Gadget was just trying to help a stranger out.  
Before Silver could ask anything else, though, the wolf’s eyes turned to something out of his field of vision. “He’s here” Gadget said, his shoulders sagging with relief.  
“So, what’s this thing that you’ve found, rookie?” A voice asked, just as Silver turned to see this newcomer for himself. When he and the infamous commander locked eyes, though, it fell silent.  
Unsurprisingly so, actually, since the commander was none other than Knuckles.  
Were the surprises ever going to end?

 

“You chose a hell of a wrong time to come visit us, kid” Knuckles said, leading him to the helicarrier. The initial shock of their meeting was, at least in Silver’s mind, being replaced with wonder at what was going on around him. Knuckles was leading an army. Knuckles had landed in the area with an aircraft to back Gadget up. With soldiers.  
If he was dreaming, it sure as hell was the weirdest dream he’d ever had.  
“I didn’t have much choice in the matter” He replied, turning around to see as much as he could. They’d waited for his dizziness to fade, at least enough to stop him from doubling over as he walked, but as predicted, a headache was pounding freely in his temples. He wished that that could be his main concern for the moment. “So, what’s going on around here? What happened?”  
The echidna scoffed. “You really don’t know? I thought you’d seen us in trouble in history books or something and had come down to help out.”  
“Yeah, I’m staying around to help, that’s for sure. But I don’t even know how I ended up here.”  
Knuckles glanced back at Gadget, who was trailing behind them. The wolf raised his hands, a helpless look on his face. He had recounted their meeting to Knuckles with a few curt words, and the echidna had probably a better grasp on what kind of crack he’d been speaking of, but all in all he had sounded as confused as Silver felt.  
(It had been a relief. He had started to think that he might have got a concussion from falling headfirst into this timeline.)  
“Well, we’re gonna figure that out too, at some point” Knuckles said, as a couple of soldiers closed the aircraft’s hatch behind them. “I think we need to tell you a story or two, though, before that.”  
He fell silent then, and grabbed a hold of the nearest seat as the helicarrier started vibrating under their feet, getting ready to take off. Silver decided to imitate him. He was mostly sure that with him feeling better, his telekinesis could keep him afloat and prevent him from falling around, but he wasn’t about to test that now.  
Whatever he’d passed through had shaken him that badly. He didn’t like what this could imply.  
He sneaked a few glances around, to try and distract himself. In different conditions he’d have been glad to learn more about what he was travelling on and do a bit of exploring, especially since the vehicle looked as if it had been built out of secondhand stuff. But they were at war, apparently ( _please tell me I can help end this, please let me end it, pleasepleaseplease_ ), so Silver looked down from one of the portholes, trying to figure out what kind of Mobius he was flying over now.  
The sight out the window did everything but reassure him.  
He stared, at loss for words. He could vaguely recognize the cities and landscapes streaming miles below, but it was all…different. It was a twisted, dirtier Mobius than the one he remembered. Clouds of smoke rolled over the buildings, or what remained of them: most of what he could see was rubble strewn on the ground.  
Most of all, there was no sign of the bustle of activity he would have expected to see. They weren’t close enough to recognize details, but there seemed to be no people walking around, no mass at work or having fun or…anything.  
It was all empty. Just like the city he’d woken up to.  
“How…how long has it been since my last visit?” He asked, dreading the answer already.  
“Uh?” Knuckles looked at him for a moment, frowning, then he shrugged. “I don’t know. A few months? Things started going down a couple weeks after that rhino robot business”.  
That had been his last trip back to their time. He’d helped them take down one of Eggman’s creations that had reactivated itself after being left to rust. There went his last hope of having ended in a parallel version of his world, where everything had turned upside down.  
Unexpectedly, Silver felt a hysterical giggle work its way up his throat. It was insane. He’d been walking these very same grounds less than a year before. And now it had been turned into a wasteland like…  
Like the one Iblis had left behind.  
In a matter of months.  
Crap.  
“What happened?” He asked, trying to keep his voice steady. “Where are all the people? Why are you even leading _soldiers_?”  
“The last one’s easy. It’s because no one else would do it, and Amy and Rouge have their own stuff to do.”  
“What?! No one…? What about Sonic? Or Shadow? Where are they?”  
“You really don’t know, uh?” Knuckles sighed, then he waved a gloved hand. “Sit down, then. It’s gonna be a long trip, and a long story.”  
Silver obeyed, mostly because he wasn’t sure that his legs wouldn’t give out. The world was spinning around him, and it wasn’t because of an eventual concussion.  
“We thought it would be another of Eggman’s tricks. You know, robots destroying things left and right, some missiles, nothing new. Sonic went to face him. Except that Eggman wasn’t alone.” The echidna grimaced. “Some…old friends were with him. Chaos, Metal. Shadow was on his side, too, and we don’t even know how that’s possible. And there was this new guy, too. No clue on who he might be. He had a mask on.”  
Knuckles was speaking with a flat, monotone voice, as if recounting something that didn’t involve him at all. Silver looked, then, truly looked at his friend like he hadn’t done before, too dazed and confused to consider anything past the _I’m not going mad and this is bloody Knuckles_ phase.  
Knuckles didn’t look overtly different from the last time Silver had seen him. The echidna had always seemed ready to fight, to jump up and lend a hand (often more literally than not). But there was a set to his shoulders, a shift to his posture that Silver didn’t recognize, and that scared him somehow.  
And then there was the voice, of course. Silver wondered how many times he’d had to tell that story before, to be able to repeat it with barely any hint of emotion.  
“Tails was there, you know. He said that this guy was stronger than Sonic, and seemed faster, too. Sonic couldn’t do anything. They took him away, and since then Eggman has done pretty much as he pleased. He’s conquered most of the world, or so it looks like. Yeah, we’re fighting back, but until we find Sonic and we get Shadow from the other side…or wherever he is now…there’s not much we can do. It’s just a handful of people who know what they’re doing and a lot of kids we’re trying to turn into soldiers. And the masked one is virtually impossible to fight, it’s like he can do magic tricks. Something like your powers.”  
“He can’t be better than me, then” Silver replied, almost mechanically. Then: “So that’s why there’s no one down there? You’ve taken everyone away from the robots?”  
“Pretty much. The resistance, they call us. We’re flying to our base now." The hint of a smirk flashed on Knuckles’ face. “Don’t worry, though. Eggman won’t shoot us down. The pilot knows what to do and we have safe routes to use.”  
“Great.” It was hard to wrap his head around what he had heard. Sonic…kidnapped. Shadow fighting for the enemy, probably brainwashed or something, since no way in hell he would have sided with Eggman again. All his friends fighting to their last breaths.  
It sounded like one of his nightmares.  
“Okay, right, of course I’ll stay to help. I don’t know how much I can do, but we have to get Sonic back. Shadow, too. I don’t know if the others are fighting too, but if they’re not we’ll get them as well.  
Knuckles’ smile widened the tiniest bit. “That’s what I wanted to hear” he said, reaching to clasp Silver on the shoulder, rough and heavy and familiar. “And don’t worry, there’s plenty for you to do. Especially since you can do something else beside pointing a gun at robots. We have a great deal of people to do that already.”  
As if summoned by the echidna’s last remark, Gadget appeared in their line of sight. He’d been working with the other recruits until then, moving stuff around and holding on to his weapon, occasionally stealing glances in their direction. He offered Knuckles a half-hearted salute, causing him to scoff and roll his eyes.  
“Pilot says we’re reaching the base, sir. She said to get ready for landing.”  
“Thanks, rookie. And quit the “sir” thing, okay? I’ve told you a hundred times already.”  
“Yessi-Yeah.” The wolf looked ready to go for a salute again, but thankfully he stopped himself on time. Instead, he gave Silver a small smile, shy but bright, before scurrying away again.  
Knuckles watched him go for a few seconds before turning back to Silver. “You’re lucky it was him who found you. He’s one of the best recruits, we’ve been giving him some heavier missions lately. He trusted his instincts and offered some help; some of the others would have probably shot you at first sight.”  
“Awesome.” Silver wasn’t exactly sure he should feel lucky for anything in their situation, but he supposed you had to enjoy the small mercies of life. And Gadget seemed a nice guy already. They would have need of every friend they could make, if they were to fight a war.  
Chiefly because this looked like no other fight they’d fought before.

 

“You’ll wear out the grass if you keep going on that way.”  
Blaze stopped and looked up at Tikal, frowning. She hadn’t noticed she’d been pacing. She’d never been the type of person who paced around, either.  
But she just couldn’t _understand_. She said as much to Tikal, who kept staring wordlessly at her. “I don’t know what’s going on. I thought that this…problem…was only related to Silver, but it got worse. And you say that nothing like this has ever happened.”  
Instinctively, she turned to the pond. Looking at it still sent shivers down her spine, but Blaze couldn’t just turn her back to it and pretend things hadn’t changed.  
That water was supposed to be a gift from Chaos. A crystal-clear window to their homeworld, a mean to see their friends. And now it had turned an unsettling blood-red, and it hadn’t shown a single image in days.  
“It hasn’t” Tikal agreed, getting closer to stand by her side. The echidna was now looking at the lake as well. “But I don’t know what we could do. Even Chaos won’t tell me what’s happening, even if he senses that something’s wrong.”  
“We can’t just sit down and not do anything, though.”  
“We won’t. This is a threat to this place, I’m sure of it. Probably to Mobius as well.”  
“Silver is involved” Blaze muttered. She was starting to feel uneasy: not the deep tension and anxiety that had crept on her since they’d stopped being able to look through the pond. This was something else, a feeling of being on the verge of something.  
She thought she could hear a faint, far away buzzing noise. Was some baby Chao trying to pull some stunt in the forest, again?  
Tikal didn’t seem to notice, however, so she gritted her teeth and went on, raising her voice: “I don’t think this has started with Silver by chance. He has something to do with this problem. And if he got involved with a new enemy, the others will probably follow his example.”  
“What can we do but wait, though?” Tikal retorted. “Even if we knew exactly what has happened, we don’t have the power to help them.”  
“I just wish we could do something else beside waiting.” The noise was growing louder by the minute. It would very soon be deafening, if they didn’t find a way to stop it. Her ears were already ringing, and she was having troubles thinking straight. “I feel…useless…”  
“Yes, but…” Tikal stopped and gaped at her, concern etched deep into her face. “Blaze? Blaze, are you alright?”  
“’s just this sound” the cat muttered, though it was hard to form coherent words. A surge of dizziness and nausea hit her when she tried to open her mouth again.  
Weird. When had the world started spinning around her?  
She took a step backwards, trying to find her balance again. It turned out to be a mistake: even thought it should have been impossible, her foot landed on nothing, and she felt herself fall, and fall, and…  
“Blaze!” Tikal screamed, trying to reach for her, but Blaze’s vision was closing in, letting black and red spots creep around the edges until all she could see was the echidna’s face and her outstretched hand.  
Then she couldn’t see anything at all, and the black and red fog enveloped her in a silent embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have NO idea how many times I had to physically restrain myself from making Silver say "It's no use". Because there's nothing like a overused joke to lead the narrative.  
> But! At least we're here now. So sorry for the delay, but this is easily 1k words more than the other two chapters and uni work got in the way.  
> More than that, I'm glad to be able to show more of the "Forces-before-Sonic's-return" world. That's what I missed most, in the game: a glimpse of what fighting was like, before they got their hero back. It was easy to show the others being full of hope and ready to save the world, once Sonic had returned, but before that? When they were fighting what looked like an hopeless fight? The spirit must have been really different. Sonic has been the wall between their world and their enemies for so long that taking part in such a war without his assistance must have taken its toll.  
> I hope I'm making sense. And even if I'm not, I really hope you've enjoyed the chapter!


	4. It was a perfect illusion (but I feel you watchin' me)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! This chapter contains mentions of blood, injuries and implied physical violence. Nothing too graphic, but you know, just an heads up.

Blaze cracked an eye open, carefully risking a glance around.

She’d half expected to see some sort of enemy standing there, ready to react at any sudden movement on her part. That was the sole reason she hadn’t dared open her eyes as soon as she’d awakened, instead laying completely still on the cold metal floor, her ears perked up to capture any noise around her.

(And hadn’t that been the first hint that she wasn’t home anymore – back in Tikal’s land, all she’d ever seen had been soft grass and dusty ground. Nothing like this, for sure.

She wondered if this fact should scare her more.

She wondered where Tikal might be, too.)

But she was alone. All she could see in the darkened room were naked walls and a ceiling, made apparently of the same steel-like material of the floor. In a corner a few feet from her, a couple of tubes and some cables snaked on the floor and disappeared under a tile. All in all, a small, featureless room of no importance.

Except that Blaze had somehow ended up there without a reason. While being passed out, she might have added.

The cat opened the other eye as well, pulling herself up and trying to decide what to do. A microscopic part of her wanted to lay back down and lay her head on the cool floor, soothing the headache that was trying to crack her head open, but she couldn’t afford that. She was, most probably, in danger. And whoever – whatever – had brought her there had an advantage over her, since Blaze had no idea of where she might be.

She tried to stand up, moving as slowly as she could to see if fainting had had any lasting effect on her. A wave of nausea hit her suddenly, but she closed her eyes and breathed deeply, and when it was over, she was able to walk around the room, checking is she might have missed anything useful in the darkest corners. She was a cat, but even her eyesight could fail.

Nothing came out of her exploration, except for the door, which Blaze had only found feeling the walls, since it was the same color as them and nearly invisible. She briefly considered burning a hole in it, since it would surely be locked from the outside.

But it wasn’t necessary. A light push was enough to open it, and it swung open freely, revealing a way more illuminated corridor.

That shocked her more than anything else. She’d suspected, ever since waking up from her black out (and she still didn’t know how long she’d been asleep, or what exactly had happened. She could remember the red pool, and Tikal, and then…

And then?),

that she’d be a prisoner of sorts, locked away at the leisure of her kidnapper.

But there was no lock, and no guards. Just her.

Nevertheless, she moved carefully, ducking into dark corners and avoiding anything that looked like cameras. She couldn’t put a name on the place she was walking around yet, though it looked eerily familiar. It was nothing more than a giant maze of corridors, with bright neon lights and dirty metallic plaques on the walls.

She encountered no one, though she often heard noises far away, and once something that resembled the voice of someone talking through a radio. Under her feet, she could feel vibrations and the humming of machines.

Blaze had never set foot on a spaceship, but she’d seen enough in her watching sessions through the pond – especially in glimpses of Sonic’s adventures – that she could find some similarities with the site she was currently exploring.

Not that the thought was of any consolation to her. The odds of a working spaceship NOT being in space were depressingly low, and it would be that much harder to escape if she was floating in space.

She forced herself to ignore the thought and pressed on. Even if the situation was that dire, she’d just need a better plan. And she couldn’t think of plan without learning more of the issue.

Finally, after she’d lost count of the number of closed doors she had passed, Blaze found herself in front of a sliding door that opened automatically as soon as she got close enough.

In any other circumstance, such a lack of passcodes or alarms she could have triggered would have been amusing. Whoever had taken her must have been a fool, to allow an intruder to roam their ship so freely.

That, or she had gotten too used to only hanging out with a clever person.

Blaze could _not_ think of Tikal now.

She was worried for her. She couldn’t not be, because Tikal’s absence felt as unnatural as walking through these strange rooms and breathing stale air that smelt of oil and dirt, but she needed to stay focused. If her lover was in danger as well, Blaze would rescue her as soon as she managed to pull herself free of this place.

Yes. A good, solid plan. Trying to keep it in her mind, she stepped into the new room and looked around.

It was radically different from the corridors she’d just left. For a start, it reminded her more of a hangar than a normal room, exceptionally large and with a high ceiling. Plus, there was no normal floor, but thin ramps attached to the walls and a gaping, circular hole in the middle, bordered by railings. When she dared look down, she saw rows and rows of similar looking ramps, going so far down that she could barely see the last ones.

Uh. So this place was way bigger than she’d expected.

There were rooms looking over the ramps, though it would have been more correct to call them cells. When she peeked in a couple of them, she could see the barest minimum inside: grey walls, a cot and not much else. Instead of doors, there were bars preventing her from going in, common metal ones but surrounded by what Blaze thought could be an electric field. She didn’t dare touch them, suspecting they would either stun her or trigger an alarm (or both), but she could hear the faint buzz of static and she felt her hairs raise even just getting close to them.

Was this a prison, then? And if yes, what kind of people would she find locked in there?

She wasn’t even sure which answer would make her feel better.

Most cells were also unoccupied. She couldn’t swear on those on the other side of the hall, but the lights in them were out, just as they were in every empty room she surpassed, so it was a pretty safe guess.

There was one exception, though. Twenty feet or so ahead of her, she could see the faintest light coming from one of the cells.

There had to be a prisoner in there. Blaze couldn’t call it a positive discovery, but maybe if she could only see them face to face, she’d get the hang of what was going on around here.

She crept on, mindful of the cameras once again, and approached the cell on soft feet. If there was really a person inside, then it would be better not to startle them. They could catch the attention of their guards, willingly or not – even if she had yet to _see_ any guard whatsoever.

Before looking inside, Blaze steadied herself, ready to witness the worst outcome possible. Whoever was inside could take her for an enemy and try to attack her, or they could be injured, or dead. She couldn’t afford to be caught off-guard.

Still, when she finally glanced into the cell, she froze, feeling as if the air had been sucked out of her lungs all at once.

It was Sonic.

Except that Blaze had never seen Sonic in such a state, not even after his worst encounters with Eggman. There were bruises on his skin, and patches of missing fur all over his body. He was sitting on the ground, propped up by the wall furthest from the bars, and his head was bowed, so she could not see his face nor make out the finest details of his injuries, but she was pretty sure there were scratches as well, red under the blue of his fur.

And, unless she was sorely mistaken (though she wanted to be), there was blood pooling in a small puddle in front of him.

Blaze bit her tongue to resist the urge to scream. This could not be possible. It had to be a nightmare, one of those sick ones she had on her worst nights, when she dreamed of her friends hurt or worse, it could not…

Unconsciously, she took a step forward, as though wanting to check for herself if all of that was real or not. She probably made more noise than she thought, for Sonic’s ears perked up. Blaze found herself holding her breath in shock, waiting for his next move.

For a few seconds it seemed that there would be none, and that he would go back to acting unconscious. Then, astonishingly, a low chuckle came from him.

“Back already, Eggman? What, did you miss me already?” He said, looking up slowly.

His face wasn’t in better conditions than the rest of his body. He was sporting a lopsided grin, but there was more blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, and dark bruises all around. His head was drooping slightly to the side, even as he tried to keep it up right.

His eyes were unfocused, too, but he sobered up immediately when his gaze centered on her.

“Blaze?” He asked, confusion replacing the forced smugness in his voice. “What? How?”

She didn’t even have the time to answer before he groaned, closing his eyes and tipping his head back. “You’re…you’re a hallucination, right? They put that stuff in my food again.”

“No, I’m – I’m not a hallucination.” _Are you?_ She felt the impulse to ask, because none of this made sense, from the trip in space she might be taking, to one of her friends beat up and bloody, to whoever was apparently drugging him. “It’s really me, it’s Blaze, but…what are you doing here? What happened? Where are we?”

She felt fire burning under her skin. She wanted to understand, she wanted to burn down those bars – force field and all – and take him away and patch him up and finally ask him for a long and sane explanation. Blaze could see herself doing all these things, and she was on the verge of raising her hand and get started.

That was, of course, when the siren started blaring over their heads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halfway through writing this chapter my MCU obsessed ass thought "Wait, does Blaze get visions of her crushed friends like Tony Stark does?" making myself about 200% sadder. Don't be like me, people. Focus on the cliffhanger, not on the crippling pain right before.  
> Also! The chapter is finally here. It's both game season and exam season for me so I'll have to balance all the extra stuff, but don't worry, I'll never leave this story behind. I love all these characters too much to forget about them.  
> (Except you, Zavok. You and your fight sequence don't get to be in this story because it took me a whole ass week to beat you and I won't put Sonic through that again.)  
> Cheers to all!


	5. Under that burning ether that falls down on these walls (burning my arms)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning!   
> Offscreen violence and torture mentioned at the end of this chapter.

Entering the Resistance base was the weirdest experience Silver had had in a while, and that included the time he’d been held at gunpoint after being teleported in the dust.

Mostly because, despite being full to the brim with survivors, the sea of faces staring at him was made almost completely of strangers.

He didn’t know what he’d expected, flying down there with Knuckles. He didn’t even have that many friends in this timezone – or in any timezone, for that matter - so he couldn’t pretend to find hordes of them running around. Especially not with the losses of Shadow and Sonic.

Still. It was pretty upsetting to walk into the control room and find only a handful of familiar faces.

There was Tails, of course, barely looking up from the computer screen in front of him before turning back to it with empty eyes. Vector and Charmy, happily waving at him. And Amy…

Amy barreled into him before he could do more than take a few steps into the room, enveloping him in a bone-crushing hug.

“Knuckles sent us a message” she said in the end, releasing him. For his part, Silver tried to catch his breath discreetly. Many things had changed, but his friend sure hadn’t lost her strength. “I’m glad to see you, but you’re not supposed to be here.”

“Tell me about it.” He sighed, letting her take his arm and drag him further into the room. “But at this point I think I’ll stay around to help. If I can, that is.”

“Of course you can! We need all the help we can get!” Amy was beaming at him while she spoke, dripping cheerfulness from every pore, but Silver was not fooled. While he was fully convinced that she was glad to see him, her smile was strained, and the grip on his arm stronger than necessary.

She turned to Knuckles before he could say anything, so he swallowed his own words and waited. There would be time even to tear down her façade.

“What did you tell him? What does he know?” Amy asked.

Knuckles shrugged. “Just the main points. The flight wasn’t long enough and I wanted to let you introduce any great plan of yours to him.” He looked at Silver then, gesturing to her with his hand. “She’s the strategist here, you know. I’m commander in battle, but she’s the genius mastermind.”

“Oh, shut _up_ , Knuckles. We’re all doing our best.”

“I heard about Sonic and Shadow” Silver blurted out, only to inwardly curse himself as he saw Amy’s smile dip even further. So full of tact.

But he couldn’t back away now. “Just…What happened? Well, not – I _know_ what happened, but…it sounds like hell.”

“Yeah, it was…a hard blow.” Amy paused for a few seconds, then her expression hardened. “But we gotta keep on hoping, and work hard. Rouge is with GUN right now – they’ve been helping us from the beginning, and they’re still tracking Shadow down. And Tails has been looking everywhere for Eggman’s hideouts and Sonic. We’re going to find them all. Right, Tails?”

Tails didn’t answer. Neither did he look up. He just stared silently at his screen, chin resting on his hand. In front of him, a scanner or radar of some kind worked on, filling the screen with numbers or data.

Amy’s face didn’t falter, but Silver felt her fingers digging painfully in his forearm, and he vowed to learn more about the whole situation later. Possibly without less of an audience, since he sensed that his friend was keeping up the act only at the benefit of the other people present. 

He gave her his most reassuring smile, then, even if he was hopeless at comforting people and more confused than everyone else in that room.

“Of course we are. We’re gonna fix everything” he said, with a security he wasn’t sure he had. “Can you tell me what I can do, though? I wanna help.”

As Amy nodded eagerly and dragged him towards one of the biggest computer screens, Silver fervently prayed that he’d really be able to do something useful. He didn’t know in what kind of mess he’d been catapulted into, but there HAD to be a chance for him to help set things to right.

He didn’t know what he’d do if there were none.

 

 

Blaze had always prided herself of her logical, rational way thinking. She didn’t rush into things headlong: that had been Silver, since the very beginning. She reacted quickly, yet she never fell to panic when unexpected problems arose.

But when the high-pitched screech of the siren started blaring in her ears, her first instinct was to freeze on the spot, like a frightened animal caught off-guard by car lights on the road. Later, she would blame her state for her unusual reaction, the fact that she’d been thrown off balance multiple times in the span of a single day, but for now there was only the alarm, and an unfamiliar ground, and Sonic, wide-eyed and grinding his teeth as if he were waiting for something to fall on him.

Her second instinct was to bolt.

There weren’t any good hiding places around there – but her brain was, at least, able to catalogue them and point her towards the best option on hand. Some of the cells had no bars, probably waiting for prisoners to arrive before being locked down, and while they screamed of _danger_ and _trap_ , this was not a game of hide and seek _:_ there was nothing more suitable, no conveniently placed pile of crates to hide behind, no niche in the wall where she could fit just fine. She dove in the nearest free cell and waited, huddled in the darkness, willing herself to breathe slowly.

At long last, when she was about to crawl out from her corner and go back to Sonic – and really, why had she run? When had she ever resorted to blind panic? Logic wanted her to learn more about what was going on before attempting a rescue mission, but that didn’t mean running as if she had hell on her heels – the siren stopped. Bare moments later, she heard footsteps clanking on the metal floor, then stopping a few feet from her, roughly where she pictured Sonic’s cell to be. She held her breath, ready to jump into action if needed.

Then she heard the newcomer speak. “How can there be an intruder? Every access point is locked and monitored.”

Blaze’s ears flattened against her head in a mixture of shock and fury. She knew that voice. She had heard it only a few times in her first life, but plenty of others as she watched Sonic fight in the pool. That was, unmistakably, Doctor Eggman.

_Focus. Focus. What’s happening?_

Another voice pitched in, more metallic and inhuman and, most of all, worried. One of his robot minions, most likely. “Nobody came in, sir, and nobody got out. There are guards all over the perimeter. They can’t have passed through.”

_And yet they did. I did._ Blaze couldn’t stop herself from thinking, with dry humor.

Eggman was considerably less amused. “Then why am I here? Why did that blasted alarm sound?”

“We-we don’t know, sir, we’re still booting up the cameras after the…experiment and the live scans only show signs of warmth…”

“Here” the doctor grunted, finishing the thought. – Where we keep this nuisance. Who was, and still is, sadly alone. Isn’t it right, _Sonic_?”

“You wound me, Doc.” The hedgehog replied. Blaze could almost hear the grin in his voice. “I’d never have guests over in your own home. But I’ll make sure to invite them for tea if I see someone around.”

The cat mouthed a thank you, though she knew Sonic would never see her. Her friend had lied smoothly and without hesitation – and wasn’t it a relief, that he could still be his usual sarcastic self, even after what he’d been put through.

What she supposed he’d been put through, actually, since she had no information but the injuries she’d seen on his body. She could barely believe that Eggman might have done it. Blaze had seen them fight, of course, but this felt…different. More methodical. Though she couldn’t put her finger on the reason why, it left an acrid taste in her mouth.

Eggman was speaking again. _Concentrate. Now._ “Get out of my sight, you tin can. And get those cameras fixed! I can’t believe you’re getting in the way of my genius.”

The bot spluttered some excuse and whirred away. Before moving, Blaze waited until the noise had died, far away from her, then she risked a glance over the cell’s opening.

She couldn’t see the inside of Sonic’s cell from that angle, but Eggman was right in her line of sight. He had not changed a bit since they had last encountered: same moustache, same giant belly, same grin that he wore when he was sure that he’d won. Blaze’s hands itched from the want of wiping it out of his face.

“In truth, I hoped there _would_ be an intruder.” The doctor said, crossing his arms. “But it seems that your friends are not too interested in rescuing you.”

“Oh, don’t worry, they’ll come around. I bet they can’t wait to see your face again”

“Perhaps. Then again, maybe there’s no one left to come around. From what you know, it might have been two weeks since I’ve taken you, or two years. Might be there’s no one left to come rescue you.”

“What can I say? Time flies when you’re having fun” Sonic replied. He was keeping up with his cheeky tone, but for a split second his voice wavered, uncertainty creeping up. Blaze hoped that it was a façade, a fake show of weakness. She hoped that, whatever it was, Eggman had not heard it. “But we’ll see.”

“Yes, we will.” Eggman took a step closer to the cage and pressed on one of the metal plaques composing the walls. It shifted, revealing a panel underneath covered in a myriad of buttons and lights. The lights were blinking red and green, and Blaze narrowed her eyes, confused. Where was this going?

“For now, I think I’ll make sure your nosy friends will get a good show when they come pick you up.” The man concluded, pressing two buttons at the same time.

A couple red dots turned to green. A split second later, the bars of the cell retracted in the ceiling, while what looked like a glass wall came up to take their place. Instinctively, Blaze moved forward, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

Then the screaming started.

She never would have dared imagine Sonic making sounds like these, not in front of Eggman, not _ever_. It crept under her skin, raising every hair on her body, freezing her in a state of horrified incredulity. That was the sound of excruciating pain, and now she couldn’t escape the word her brain had tried to avoid using, seeing Sonic in that state.

Those weren’t fighting scars. That was _torture_.

Eggman regarded the scene for a few seconds, but to Blaze they seemed to stretch out into centuries. Finally, he walked away, and all that remained was what she could glance behind the glass from her corner. Drops of water hit the transparent wall, and with them came sudden bursts of light, like tiny lightning strikes. And the screams. Try as she might, she couldn’t ignore them.

Blaze gritted her teeth. She needed to get them both out of that place.

_Now_.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I see now that I'm putting out chapters every month and I want to apologize for that. I truly love this story and I wish I could do more for it, but real life stuff keeps getting on the way. That's the only reason I update so slowly! I have no desire to leave this unfinished.  
> Also Eggman is a tricky subject. His characterization varies from "murderous tyrant" to "fun Team Rocket-esque pseudovillain" and one never knows what to do with him. I chose to lean more towards the former idea, and I hope he (like all the other characters) is not too OOC.  
> Not an extremely fun-packed chapter, either. More action to follow in the next one, I promise.  
> Cheers!


	6. Though far away, though far away, though far away (We're still the same, we're still the same, we're still the same)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning!  
> Minor appearance of blood and mentions of torture in the last section of the chapter

About half an hour later, Silver had gained more information that he could have ever asked for. Some parts of it had even been sold to him as positive, but there was very little to rejoice for, in his opinion.

Eggman had made another attempt at world conquest. Same old, same old. What _had_ come as a shock to Silver had been learning that the evil doctor had succeeded, mostly because he’d managed to capture Sonic and gain an all-powerful masked ally early on. Not to mention that, somehow, Chaos, Metal Sonic and Shadow were all on his side, popping in and out of every battlefield and causing havoc among the Resistance forces.

Hearing about Shadow had been a hard blow for Silver. He could, with some effort, picture Sonic being beaten; he could never have predicted the black hedgehog leaving them to join Eggman’s army. He knew Shadow, he _respected_ Shadow. There had to be something off with the whole thing, to put them in this situation.

The Resistance, as it was, held on, but it wasn’t gaining much ground against the opposing force. Despite the support offered by G.U.N. (which kept contact with their allies through Rouge), their elements weren’t soldiers as much as refugees, hordes of civilians, mostly elders and children, seeking a place to hide after their cities had been raided.

No wonder everyone seemed to be holding on to hope by the skin of their teeth. The situation was dire enough for Silver himself to grow desperate.

But that would have been counterproductive. He was supposed to be helping, right? He needed to stay strong. “What’s there to do, then? Like…not fighting the robots or saving the people. I don’t know, some great plan, some decisive action?”

“Well, we had something in mind” Amy replied, pressing a button on one of the biggest computers. Its screen filled immediately, showing a tridimensional rendition of a map of some kind.

Silver stared at it with his brow furrowed. It looked like the inside of a building, or at least a crudely drawn layout of it. At a touch of Amy’s finger, the camera moved, revealing more rooms as it went around corners and entered doors.

“What is it?” He asked, perplexed.

“This is one of Eggman’s new bases” the pink hedgehog said without looking away from the screen. “Or, more correctly, what we think his base looks like on the inside. We had to guess after some hacking and spying, since we haven’t managed to get in yet.”

“Oh. What’s so important about this place, though? Why do you want to break inside?”

It was Knuckles who answered. The echidna stepped up to his side, his expression hard and unreadable, and said: “Because that’s where he’s keeping the Master Emerald.”

It took Silver a moment to recover from the shock. Once he was finally able to stop gaping, he turned to Knuckles, wide eyed.  “W-what?” He stammered out, throat dry. “What do you mean Master Emerald? How did he even get it?”

“He didn’t. He got his lackey with the mask to steal it for him. The guy probably hid it away in Eggman’s new lair, too, since I can’t sense the emerald anymore.”

“I thought you could. I mean, even from far away.”

“I _can_ ” Knuckles snapped at him. “At least, I should be able to. But something’s interfering, and our radars detected the same energy that’s bursting out of that guy.”

Silver felt as if he were bursting too, filled to the brim with questions he wanted to ask. Before he could voice any of them aloud, though, Amy added: “That’s why we’re trying to navigate the place this way. Without Knuckles’ Guardian sense, we can only guess where the Master Emerald could be. This is a rough map, but it should be enough not to get lost, once we manage to keep the masked one distracted elsewhere and we get in.”

Silver had no idea how one person could give all of them so many problems. They were used to dealing with the worst the universe had to offer, after all. “Is he that powerful, then?”

“Pah!” Vector spit out in disgust. “That guy is everywhere. We can’t get rid of him in any way. He’s a right pain in the…”

“He seems to have some strange powers” Amy said, eyeing the crocodile reproachfully. “He can…I don’t know how to explain it, but he seems to be able to alter reality. Or to give hallucinations, at least. He thwarted our latest attempt to find Sonic, and…”

A sudden, screeching sound filled the air, and Silver turned around along with everyone else, trying to locate its source.

Tails had pushed his chair away from the computer. He got up and exited the room, walking out the room without meeting anyone’s eyes.

There was a long moment of silence where no one seemed to be able to find anything to say before Amy clasped her hands together, an overtly cheerful smile on her face. “Well. Back to the plan.”

She looked back at the screen, but Silver managed to see her eyes for a second, way too bright in the crude lighting. He gritted his teeth, wishing he could say something, anything helpful at all, instead of just pretending everything was fine.

But Amy was talking again, her voice light as if she’d never been interrupted. “We’re not sure of where Sonic might be, either, so we tried to storm a couple of Eggman’s hiding spots with unusual activities going on. Eggman’s new friend intercepted us and…it didn’t go well.”

She took a deep breath, then continued. “He made it look as if we were spinning around, upside down, walking on air. He made dozens of copies of himself, and he was attacking from every corner. It was maddening. He’s not only superstrong, he can play with your mind as he likes.”

“We lost some of the recruits we’d brought along” Knuckles intervened. “And Espio- “

“Espio too?” Silver interrupted, stunned. Suddenly, his absence made way more sense, as did the quietness of the two other Chaotix members. Even Charmy seemed subdued at hearing his friend’s name.

“He’s not dead, no. But he got wounded badly while trying to attack that creature from behind. He must have eyes on the back of his head, too.”

“He could, for all we know “Amy said. “We’ve never seen him without the mask on, and we never get close enough to see his face anyway.”

There was a picture on the screen now. It was grainy and clearly taken from a distance, and it showed what was clearly the person they’d been talking about until then. Nothing particular was discernible about him, though. Just a light-coloured mask that let only one eye peek out, a cloud of white hair, and the glint of something red on his chest.

That caught his attention. “What is it? What is he wearing?” He asked, pointing a finger at the screen.

“We’re not sure. It looks like a gem, and we _think_ it’s connected to his power somehow, since it’s the same color as this “magic” he’s pulling around.” Amy waggled her fingers as demonstration. “But we don’t have any proof.”

“Okay. That’s not terrifying at all.” Silver was trying to come up with a good enough reaction for whatever it was that he’d just learned of. The guy had magical superpowers, right, so what? Silver himself had some of those. He didn’t have to freak out. He wasn’t allowed to freak out. “How…How do we even stop him?”

“I’m not sure we can” Amy said. “But if we get him to look elsewhere and just not teleport to where we’ll be digging, we can put our hands on the Master Emerald and…and maybe find some clue on where Sonic might be, and hopefully we’ll be on an even ground with him after.”

It was a farfetched plan, with little to no chances of success. There were countless things that could go wrong. And would they even be able to hold that crazy stranger’s attention long enough to pull their heist? Basing on their tales, it seemed that they’d tried attacking him all together, and they had failed. They didn’t have any new weapon to point at him.

Well, except for…

Oh.

Right.

“I can do it, then” Silver heard himself say, way before his brain had caught up rationally with his idea.

All eyes turned to him. “What?” Amy asked, clearly confused.

“The distraction. I can do it.” The grey hedgehog straightened his spine, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt.

That was the point, wasn’t it? He’d reached it unthinkingly mere minutes before: to fight an enemy with superpowers you needed a friend with superpowers. And Silver _was_ that friend, even if he had just been pulled into another war-wrecked world after working so hard to save his own.

“I’m serious. You said you needed some help, and I’m ready to help, and maybe I can stand a chance of keeping him busy for all the time you need, especially since he’s never seen what I can do.”

He chanced a look at Amy, who was still holding herself together, still pretending they had everything under control and that he didn’t need to risk his life for them. He could nearly see those exact words stumble out of her mouth in a few seconds, so he steadied himself and pleaded, staring right in her eyes: “Let me go. Let me fight him.”

There was another long, pregnant pause. Then Knuckles shrugged. “I say we try. We don’t have much more to lose as of now.”

Silver was still looking at Amy. She opened her mouth, then closed it immediately after, hesitating. Finally, she sighed, deep and heavy.

“Knuckles is right. We need to try” she said, voice thick and barely steady. Then she shook her head and added, fiercely: “But you’re not just running out to punch him in the face. We’re going to plan it out, and when it’s all over we’re _all_ coming back here alive and with the Master Emerald. Am I making myself clear?”

“Yes, ma’am” Knuckles grunted, but it was only half mocking. Silver smiled at Amy, and he was relieved to see her smile back, a new fire in her green eyes.

They could make this work.

They _had_ to.

When the sound of Eggman’s heavy steps had faded away, Blaze stepped out of the shadows and made her way towards Sonic’s cell.

She was tense, tiptoeing around as if every step she took could trigger an explosion. She knew they were on borrowed time; she was out in the open, ready to be caught the moment the cameras got turned back on. She had thought of setting the closest ones on fire, just to buy herself a few more minutes, but it would have triggered any existing fire alarms and defeated the whole purpose of going unnoticed. Same went for trying to burn down the cell, or at least the bars: even if whatever could electrify them didn’t suddenly short-circuit under the heat, the chance of getting caught or to accidentally hurt Sonic on the way was too high.

Not only she was running out of time, then; she was also running out of ideas.

And yet, Blaze could barely keep herself lucid. All she was conscious of, all she could _feel_ , was the boiling, thundering rage coursing through her veins. Had she been able to give in to her instinct as she knelt down before the bars, she would have grabbed the closest one and squeezed it in her first, so strong was her anger.

But, of course, she couldn’t. She was the strong one here, the sane one and the whole one. She couldn’t afford to be reckless, or stupid.

It was hard to think coherently with Sonic in such a state before her eyes, though. The hedgehog was slumped against the wall, breathing heavily with his eyes fixed on the ceiling. His fur was, bizarrely, soaking wet, and there were puddles of water on the floor.

There was also a rivulet of blood dripping from his mouth, but Blaze forced herself to look away, and she steadied her voice before whispering: “Sonic?”

He looked at her then, and he groaned, waving a tired hand in her directions. “Again? Look, I-I can’t deal with hallucinations now. Leave me alone.”

“I’m not an hallucination” she replied. She didn’t want her voice to grow frantic, but she needed her friend to believe in her, and to cooperate, if they wanted to get out. “I’m here. Please, look at me. I’m as real as Eggman was.”

“So Eggman was real? Crap. I’d hoped this was some freaky nightmare.”

Sonic was clearly making an effort, but his tone carried but a little of his past cheekiness, and there was a thickness to it that suggested he could have done with a drink, or that he had bitten his tongue.

Or both. It would have explained the blood, at least.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry all of this happened. I’m going to get you out of here, I promise.”

He actually laughed at her, humorless and vaguely hysterical. “Good luck, then. I tried a few times to escape on my own and believe me, it went swimmingly.” He paused, his breathing laborious and uneven. “As in, I got sent to swim in some great big pool, right before they started electrifying it. Which, by the way, is what just happened here. The doc’s so kind to give me my own private bathtub _and_ electroshock in one sitting.”

To her stunned silence, he replied by shaking his head, a microscopic smirk on his lips. He winced halfway through the movement. “That is, if you’re actually real.”

“I am.” Blaze was, for once in her life, at loss of what to say or do. She stumbled over the words, trying to keep a grip on logic.  “Look, I’m just…I’m going to try and warm you up, and then we need to work out a plan. You’ve been here a while, right? There must be something you have heard, or seen, or…”

The cat looked at her hand, dumbfounded.

She had snapped her fingers instinctively, trying to summon some heat or some fire, anything that could warm Sonic up and drag him back to reality. She hadn’t even thought hard about it, expecting a taste of her usual power.

And yet, she had gotten something completely different.

Instead of the usual burst of orange-red flames, there was a small, compact ball of blue fire fluctuating an inch or so above her palm. Blaze could feel its warmth, not dissimilar to the warmth of anything she had ever produced before, but the rest of it was strikingly foreign to her normal abilities.

“Uh” Sonic commented, eyes trained on the dancing flames in her hand. “Hard to dream about this one. I didn’t think you could do anything like that.”

“Yes, well, neither did I” she breathed. It was hard to take her eyes off that thing. It was almost hypnotizing.

Blaze felt a primitive urge inside of her, the need to add on to that nonsense. She blew softly on the ball, and it flew away, hovering in the air as it moved between the bars and towards Sonic.

The hedgehog raised his arms instinctively, and the flame stopped a breath away from touching his cupped palms. “It’s warm” he said, voice dripping with disbelief. “There’s nothing so warm here.”

He sounded on the verge of tears. It would have broken Blaze’s heart in any other moment of her life, but as it was it just added to her confusion.

This was too much. Kidnapping, loss, a Sonic that was a mere shadow of his past self, and now new powers out of the blue. She was losing more balance with every passing second, and who knew what could happen next.

She wished Tikal could have been there. Tikal was calm, and level-headed, and she always knew what to do. Blaze ached for her strength to rely on.

But there was no Tikal around. Just her, and Sonic, and new abilities to deal with in the face of danger.

Deep in thought, she snapped again, focusing this time on the result. Sure enough, another small blue fire appeared, nearly identical to the other one. She was able to control it, apparently, at least vaguely.

She tried poking at it, absentmindedly. No fire could hurt her, anyway, and she wanted to see if it would feel different than the usual.

She never managed to touch it. It opposed resistance, as if there were an invisible bubble surrounding the flame. Try as she might, her finger never got closer than an inch or so from the fire.

Not a fire made to burn stuff, then. To anyone else it would have been worthless, but Blaze could sense a purpose in it. It could be useful. It could…

Her head snapped up so suddenly that Sonic nearly flinched, even as he gazed reverently at the flames. “Do you believe I’m real now?”

“Now? Yeah.” The hedgehog looked back at her, raising his eyebrows. “This sounds too weird even for my usual visions.”

“Good.” Blaze narrowed her eyes at the ball in her hand, and it grew larger and taller, just as she had wished for.

“Because I think I have a plan to bust you out.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is about 2800 words. Nearly 2500 of them were written, in their rough draft, the day after I finished my uni exams for the summer.   
> This is to say how much I'd missed this fic. It's been a long and painful wait for me too, because I love this story and I wanted so bad to get back to it. Thank you all for the patience!   
> A special thanks goes to those who discovered this story during these two months and left extremely nice comments. They gave me the strength to finish my boring work and return to my favourite job, AKA giving Sonic, Blaze, Silver and literally everyone else in this fic their dose of angst and pain. I apologize (or maybe not).  
> See you next chapter!


	7. You're like me I clearly see (Born to be free)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! Mentions of blood, drugs and torture towards the end of the chapter.

“So, we’re out on a mission then?”

Silver looked up from where he was fiddling with the com Knuckles had strapped to his wrist. Gadget was looking at him, smiling somewhat uncertainly.

The hedgehog frowned. “We?”

“Yes, well. I’m supposed to be your ride. And part of your backup, if needed.” Gadget scratched the back of his head. “I don’t think you’ll get much more than me, sorry. The commander and the others will be attacking Eggman’s base.”

“Uh, no, it’s fine” Silver hurried to reply. After all, he’d been ready to dive into the fight headfirst and without backup of any sort. “Fantastic, even. If you don’t try to shoot me again, that is.”

This time, the wolf’s smile was way more genuine. “Sorry again. I was just- we’ve been on our toes for quite a bit now.”

“Yeah, I can imagine.” Silver looked down at the communicator once more. It was a kind of technology more rudimental than what he had grown used to in his timezone – his new timezone, of course. In the old one they hadn’t had much more than each other’s backs.

He hoped the resistance could count on that too, other than radio communication and hovercrafts.

“How’s the morale? Of the soldiers, I mean.” Silver knew it was not an easy question, nor one whose answer he would necessarily like, but he had to know. “Do they still think we can win the war?”

He had included himself into the count without even thinking, but there was no question to it, was it? He had been involved with the resistance the second he had fallen from the crack, even if he hadn’t known at the time.

Gadget shrugged. “Well, there’s not much choice to it, right? If we stop believing we’ll get to go home someday, we might as well surrender.” He seemed to ponder on his own words for a moment, then he grinned, bright and sure. “But they say you have superpowers of some kind, and that we’ll get a new weapon if this new plan works out, so we’re on our way to victory, no?

Silver actually laughed at that. He appreciated the enthusiasm, because it meant that at least someone was optimistic enough not to lose hope. They’d have no chance of surviving the fray, without hope. “I don’t know what they told you, but we still don’t know if my powers will be enough to fight that guy.”

“But you do have powers, right?” The wolf insisted, leaning forward. “What can you do?”

Instead of answering, Silver raised his hand minutely. Gadget’s weapon, hanging in a holster at his side, flew up easily enough and levitated towards him, wrapped in a faint green-blue glowing aura.

By the time he could wrap his fingers around the gun, Gadget was all but gaping at him. “You didn’t do that when I was threatening you.”

“I wasn’t at my best at that point.” There was an edge of pride in his voice that he could not suppress, but then again, everyone else he could safely show his powers to had already seen them in action way too many times. There was no harm in showing off a bit.

“I hope you are now, then. I’m sure you can beat the masked guy, if you can do that sort of thing.” The wolf was positively bouncing on the spot by then, but he seemed to catch himself on the act and stopped suddenly, a sheepish smile on his face. “Sorry. Anyway, did they give you anything you needed?”

“Yeah. I think I’m ready.” He had spent two long hours revising the plan with his friends, a procedure that had involved a lot of friction between Knuckles and Amy on how close he had to get to dying before calling off the operation. Or at least, it had sounded like that.

After that, they’d given him the com and an earpiece where further information could reach him in case of need, and left him to get acquainted with them, which was where Gadget had found him. “What now?”

“The people down at the radars are trying to spot our target. When they do, we can get on with the whole operation. For now, all we can do is wait.”

“Amazing.” In Silver’s experience, waiting was nearly worse than direct fighting, in a war. One could grow fidgety and lose focus of their goal, and that usually did more damage than anything else.

There was, however, something he could do to pass the time. “Have you seen Tails around here?” He asked the wolf. “I wanted to speak to him.”

He didn’t do how much he could do, but Tails was still his friend. They had known each other for ages. Silver could at least try to help him get out of his guilt, for lack of a Sonic to do it properly.

Gadget frowned. “I thought you knew. He headed out while you were in that meeting. He’s one of the big names here, so the guards didn’t ask him much, but I suppose he had some mission of his own.”

Unless they had done so before his arrival, Silver hadn’t seen anyone talk with Tails of missions of any kind. He hadn’t seen _anyone_ talk with Tails, period. The fox had locked himself in his own mind and hadn’t spoken a word before leaving, despite Amy’s efforts.

The whole thing struck Silver as weird, and he’d very much liked to know more, preferably from Tails himself, but hopping out of the base without a clue of where to go would probably end in disaster, even ignoring the fact that he could be called out for his own mission at any given moment.

And surely, Tails had to have a plan. He was the cleverest of them all, and routinely dug himself out of whatever mess Sonic threw them into. He would be fine.

Even if the feeling in Silver’s gut would have him believe otherwise.

An urgent beeping tore him out of his thoughts. Both his com and the one on Gadget’s wrist were now going off, sending out flashes of red light.

“They found him.” The wolf looked down briefly at the communicator, then straight into Silver’s eyes. Behind the thick glasses he wore, his own eyes were the color of gold, and full of determination. “Are you ready?”

Silver nodded. They would never be more ready than they were now, and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on the person responsible for so much grief in the resistance.

“Let’s go.”

 

 

 

Doctor Ivo Julian Robotnik, known as Eggman to the general public, had devised the command panels in most of his lairs to recognize his touch, and to open up only under his fingers. That included the commands connected to his cells, where he kept his more important hostages and where, at the moment, his archenemy Sonic was residing.

It was a well-thought out plan, and it had taken quite a long time to perfect it and get the devices installed in every location that mattered.

It had taken, however, a way shorter amount of time for his various robots and AIs to decide to override them.

The thing was, that the Doctor was an impatient person. Bringing to him a problem usually resulted in him demoting, threatening or, in more drastic cases, crushing the robot messenger before realizing that he was the only one with access to the means for solving the aforementioned problem. Therefore, most of his robot acolytes had found ways to solve almost any issue without calling on him.

They didn’t do so often, for being caught hacking their way through the Eggman Empire would end badly even for the bots he had a relatively soft spot on, but it happened now and then. Every inconvenience meant choosing between taking it up to their master and builder himself and risking his wrath or taking it in their own hands (or similar appendages) and acting as illegally as a computer could.

Which was why the robot guard sent down to do the cell rounds found himself caught in an inner debate.

There was only one occupied cell for the time being, but the prisoner held inside was of the utmost importance, and he was to be kept alive until the Doctor said otherwise.

Said prisoner’s cell was currently filled with what looked like a wall of blue flames.

“Hey! Anyone there? It’s getting a bit warm in here!” Sonic called out from behind it. He sounded as cocky as ever, and relatively distressed, but not suffering physically yet. Even the robots had learned what his painful screeches sounded like, by then.

The guard hesitated a split second, possible options running lightning-fast through his cyberbrain. It could have been another one of the Doctor’s treats for the prisoner, but Doctor Eggman usually liked to stand by and watch as he tortured the hedgehog. And he hadn’t communicated anything of the sort before leaving to tend to his other duties. Then again, he wasn’t known for being extremely precise in his orders to his minions.

He would probably get mad if he learned that they’d messed with the cell’s commands. But he’d get even madder if they contacted him to ask him what to do, since apparently the fire alarms and related countermeasures had stopped working, mere hours after the cameras had short-circuited because of the new experiment. He’d probably bark immediate orders over the comm and then fly back to deal with the bots deemed responsible himself.

And that guard would be first in line for punishment.

There was nothing else to be done, then. The robot stepped closer to the cell. “STAND-BACK” it warned.

“Where am I supposed to go? I’m still in chains, buddy” Sonic replied, but the guard ignored his impertinence in favor of hacking the panel to manually activate the cell flooding. It would drown the flames for sure, and if the hedgehog got an unplanned underwater session, surely the Doctor would never notice?

That was when another flaw in Eggman’s plans came abruptly to light.

The Doctor had made his robots to follow his orders. They had a certain degree of free will, just so they could act more or less intelligently and not get crushed by Sonic and his blasted friends in a second at most, but their logic had flaws. Even their system override idea had been dictated by their ability to process the difference between what Eggman said and what he actually wanted from them.

But they weren’t, strictly speaking, very smart.

By the time the guard’s receptors realized that while its sturdy body could have easily ignored the heat of the fire at a distance, being in close proximity to the flames should have raised its inner temperature, it had already opened the panel.

A moment later, its systems failed, and his vision went completely black.

 

 

The robot went down like a lead balloon. 

Blaze took a step back and regarded it carefully. Her attack had taken it down easily enough, but they couldn’t afford to have it get back on its feet.

It seemed knocked down for good, though. It hadn’t triggered any general alarm, which was perfect, but they couldn’t exclude that it might have sent a distress signal to the other robots. They needed to get a move on, and quickly.

She snapped, and the flames disappeared, leaving no trace behind and uncovering Sonic’s bewildered grin. “I can’t believe it actually worked” he said. “Eggman’s security system has more holes than a fishnet.”

“We’re not out yet.” Blaze took a closer look at the buttons that the shifting panel had revealed. There were way too many, and not one of them sported a sign indicating its use.

Not that she had actually hoped they would. It would have been asking for too much.

“Any clue on which one I should press?” She asked, looking up at her friend. It wasn’t only a matter of doors: there were iron chains looped around Sonic’s neck and wrists, too close to his body to burn away safely.

“Bottom left for the cell, I think. And somewhere in the upper right for the chains. He didn’t use that one much when I was conscious, sorry.”

That sentence alone carried too much weight for Blaze to unpack at present time. She stored it in her brain, though, for later.

There _had_ to be a later where Sonic could recover, after all.

She pressed the indicated buttons, hoping to get it right and not subject the hedgehog to another round of electrocution. They were lucky once more; the door shifted aside, and the manacles opened at once.

“Great.” Sonic massaged his wrists, where the metal had dug deep into the skin. “Now what?”

“Now we find a ship to steal.” Blaze stepped inside and offered Sonic her hand, hauling upwards. “Can you run?”

It was immediately clear that he couldn’t, nor he would be able to anytime soon. Even with her support he wavered on his feet, with barely enough energy to stay upright. From up close he seemed even more worn out and emaciated, and his bruises stood out like craters on a moon.

“Ask me in five minutes?” He offered, but he couldn’t smile without wincing as Blaze looped his arm around her shoulders.

“Let’s get out of here for now” she said, ignoring how heavily he was leaning on her. Coming to terms with _this_ Sonic would be even harder than expected. “We don’t have much of a head start.”

They limped through the door, carefully avoiding the electrified bars, and Blaze impulsively led them the way she had originally come in from. The base would be a labyrinth no matter what, but at least these were corridors she had already seen once.

It was a far-fetched plan at best, but nothing better had come to her mind. Perhaps it had been the place. Even just sitting in her hidden alcove, waiting for passing robots to be lured in their trap, had been unsettling. Iblis’ flames and Chaos’ cozy and welcoming world made a stark contrast with these stuffy rooms. The cold floor had sent shivers down her spine, and the sickening smell of oil that lingered in every corner had made her dizzy.

She couldn’t even tell how long it had been since Eggman’s departure, but then again, living in a timeless land had often made her lose track of chronological time.

Even walking through these halls was a haunting experience. The corridors looked all exactly alike, and there was a distinct lack of Eggbots to face. Only twice she had to duck in nearby corners to avoid being caught by one of them.

It seemed too…convenient, all in all. Their escape attempt was working way too well. In Blaze’s experience, it could only mean that something truly challenging was waiting for them to make a faux pas.

“Wait.” Sonic said suddenly, pulling at her arm. “This way.”

He was pointing at a hallway that looked no different from the others. “What? Why?”

“Eggman’s not as clever as he thinks. All his _secret lairs_ look the same. We should find a way out there.”

Blaze severely doubted that. However, since they had no better idea in store, all she could do was trust Sonic on his instincts. “Alright. Lead the way.”

They walked in silence for a while before Sonic spoke again, brow furrowed. “There’s too much silence. Something must be wrong.”

“I was thinking the same thing.” Blaze adjusted her grasp on his arm. She was strong, and what with all the probable underfeeding and blood loss Sonic was an unhealthily light weight to carry, but it would all take its toll sooner or later. She hoped they would be able to get out of this giant prison before it happened. “Eggman didn’t tell you anything of his plans?”

“Pffft. Eggman told me a great deal of things, but nothing useful. They were all lies, most likely.” The hedgehog paused for a moment. “Or hallucinations. He quite liked giving me those.”

He was being forcibly cheeky about it, and Blaze appreciated the spirit, but it wasn’t exactly encouraging. “Did he drug you?”

“Oh, no. He had this new friend that can…manipulate reality, or something. Makes you see stuff that doesn’t exist.” Another pause, as Sonic caught his breath. Despite the reduced effort he was making, compared to her, he sounded quite fatigued. “I think the guy’s helping him try to conquer the world again.”

“How long have you been here, Sonic?”

“Dunno. Got caught at the very beginning, and this kid with the mask made me dream about a dozen rescue missions and heists in the meantime. It got boring after a while, so I hope I was right in thinking you’re not a hallucination.”

“I’m not. I swear.”

“That’s what a hallucination would say” he quipped, a tight smile on his face. “But no, you don’t look like those visions he gave me. You’re not…not red enough. And Eggman still thinks you’re dead, if he remembers you at all. _I_ still thought you were dead, until you got in my line of sight.”

“Doesn’t it strike you as strange?”

“I’m used to people coming back from apparent death, ‘s all. Ask Shadow, he’d know. And I suppose there’s a long story behind it, right?”

“Right.” She had elected to ignore his rambling about _red_ for the moment, but hearing it had made her stomach sunk, for some reason. Something about it was nagging at her brain, but she would likely not place her finger on it until she could stop and catch a break. “I will explain what I can, when… _Watch out!_ ”

As if evoked by her suspicions, a bunch of bots had appeared at the end of the hallway. The first shot of their laser guns almost got her in the shoulder before she unceremoniously pushed Sonic aside and attacked them. He was in no fit shape to fight, but he hopefully had enough sense to stay out of fire’s harm.

Her flames left the robots as no more than smoking wrecks, but now her hackles were raised. No chance for their escape to go unnoticed.

“We must be close” Sonic said as she hoisted him back up. “There’s always more guards the closer you get to important stuff.”

“Somehow, that doesn’t reassure me.”

Sonic was right, though. She had to thwart three more attempts to stop them in rapid succession, and while it was still not as much as she had expected and definitely suspicious, it was still enough to make her breathing grow heavy. It felt as if she’d been walking miles and miles of the same, endless hallway, with Sonic’s weight dragging her down and no end in sight.

Come on, just one more step. You can do it. You must do. One foot after the other. Come on, come…

Finally, a sliding door appeared before them, not dissimilar to the one giving access to the cell block. Blaze exhaled slowly in relief, even if she didn’t dare hope too much. “This must be it.”

“Yeah. Let’s hope it’s a hangar. Or a control room, at least.”

The door opened as soon as they got close enough for any sensor to work, with no need to burn it down or try to hack it, and they got in without any problem.

That alone should have tipped them off on what to expect.

It was not a ship hangar, nor a control room. It was, instead, a giant, cavernous hall, with a rounded ceiling and a floor made of metallic plaques. There was nothing inside, except an enormous computer screen hanging from above, near the center of the room.

Blaze’s hairs stood out in alarm on the back of her neck and she took a step backwards, ready to bolt out again, but it was too late. The door locked behind them with an ominous sound, just as the screen, previously pitch black, flickered on.

Eggman’s face, ten times larger and just as ugly as ever, was now grinning down at them from there. He could apparently see them, too, because he took one long look at them and then exploded in a maniacal laugh. There must have been loudspeakers hiding somewhere, because his laughter bounced off the walls all around them, deafening and impossible to escape.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” He bellowed, indecently joyful. “You thought I would just let you two run away without doing anything, mh? What a mistake. Now I’ll have to have some fun with you before putting you back in your cell, just like all the other times, eh, Sonic?”

Sonic was shaking. He was putting up a brave front, gritting his teeth and glaring menacingly at Eggman, and it could have been passed off as rage or fatigue from a distance, but Blaze was right there. And he was afraid.

Somehow, that just made the whole situation worse.

“And about your friend…” The Doctor added, turning his bespectacled his to Blaze. “You look familiar, but you don’t seem that important to remember. No matter! You’ll make a pretty picture to send to your precious Resistance, all locked up together.”

The room had been empty. Blaze was sure of it, there hadn’t been a soul in sight when they had walked in.

But now, it seemed as if eyes were watching them from every corner. The hall was dimly lit, but she could make out a few figures walking resolutely towards them.

And familiar figures, at that, for it was Shadow and the robot Sonic replacement that Eggman was so proud of who stared at them, like predators closing in on their prey.

And Chaos. Heavens above, Chaos was there with them.

It made no sense. Why would Chaos be there, with its long-limbed, nearly-Mobian form? Even if it had fallen down there with her, why had it sided with Eggman?

Why was it looking at her as if it didn’t know her at all, as if she had not spent countless nights laying on the grass beside it?

She could think no more of it. Within a second, tens of plaques fell from the floor, revealing a deep, bottomless precipice underneath. She was now standing on a precarious island in the middle of the room with Sonic and their enemies, and no access to the walls surrounding them.

Eggman’s smile was threatening to split his face in two.

“And now…Let’s open the dances!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, it's not been a month since last chapter. I'm as surprised as you are.  
> I had expected this to be a short, uneventful chapter, to lead us into the next, much more action-packed one. However the characters took me by the hand and had me write down a ton of feels (especially the robot guard. RIP robot guard, you'll be remembered forever) and a bit of light narration.  
> But I'm still super thrilled for what's about to come, and I hope you are as well, because I can't wait to show you what's in the works!   
> As usual, if you notice any mistake, redundant phrase or typo, do go ahead and tell me ! English is not my mother language and sometimes stuff escapes even my editing sessions.  
> Love you all <3
> 
> P.S. Any of you reading the IDW comics like me? What the FUCK is happening there, guys?


	8. I've been up against better (Just take a look at my face)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! Violence (barely graphic enough to mention, but still) and fighting throughout all the chapter.

The supposed ultra-dangerous, extremely lethal enemy didn’t look all that scary, in Silver’s mind.

Granted, he was looking at him from a distance, but it was the principle of the thing. It was hard to fear someone standing, small and alone, in front of what looked like a giant hole in the sky.

Gadget had said that he’d fallen from one of those cracks, and Silver could scarcely believe it. He had traveled back and forth from the future for quite a long time, and he had never seen anything like that. It looked more like a purulent wound than a portal, bleeding that red and black cubic matter that made his stomach twist in worry and disgust.

“What’s he doing?” He whispered at Gadget as they crept closer to their target. Their hovercraft – Silver’s ride, in case things went south – had landed far enough not to be spotted, or at least not to be considered a threat. “Why is he staring at that…thing?”

“He does that, sometimes. It’s not the first time they’ve recorded him” the wolf replied. “First time I’ve been close enough to see him do it, though. It gives me chills, if you want to know.”

It had the same effect on Silver, but he wasn’t sure it’d be helpful to say it out loud. “Are the others in position?”

He meant more the recovery mission headed towards Eggman’s base, which included Amy, Knuckles and assorted support, and less the other soldiers that had joined them on the hovercraft. He didn’t doubt their courage, nor their strength, and against a normal enemy they would have gone a long way; but from the tales Silver had heard, if the guy ever got past him and they tried to intervene, they would become the supernatural equivalent of cannon fodder.

_It’s not gonna happen. He can’t get past me. I won’t let him._

“Ready when you are.” Gadget turned towards him, mouth set in a grim line. “Don’t underestimate him. We’ve lost too many recruits to him already.”

“I won’t.” Underestimating your adversary hardly brought you anything good. Who was it that had drilled it into his brain? Ah, right, Shadow. Chiefly by kicking him in the head during their very first meeting.

So acting stronger-than-thou was off the game. Being confident in one’s abilities, however, was not, and Silver was not about to stop believing in himself right now.

The wolf nodded. “Good luck then. I – well, _we_ ’ll have your back no matter what.”

The hedgehog gave him a thumbs up, already focused on the creature standing before the crack.

Then he charged.

He couldn’t count on many things in a fight like that, but he _did_ have the element of surprise. His opponent would not expect someone whose powers could match his and work from a distance.

Therefore, Silver didn’t hesitate to get a hold on the guy as soon as he got in range. The other was turned away from him, and the mask would have hidden any sign of surprise anyway, but no doubt he was feeling some degree of shock as a blue-ish aura surrounded him and he was lifted up and thrown against a wall.

“You the one who made that big hole in the sky? You know, it’s not nice to ruin the scenery like that” Silver commented, fluctuating closer. He was hovering a few inches from the ground, forcing the other to focus on him and him alone, so that he would not see even by mistake the troops scattering around and hiding out of sight.

He noticed a movement among the rubble the crash had created, and he mirrored it with one of his own, freezing the guy mid-motion before he could attack. “Not so fast.”

The other stared at him with a yellow, unblinking eye. Sitting there amongst the fallen bricks, his arm partially raised but unable to move further, he was almost ridiculous to look at. Silver was starting to think that he’d have to keep him there until the Master Emerald was safe in the Resistance’s hands.

Then the creature moved.

Silver couldn’t help but stare numbly at him as he lowered his hand and rose, up in the air as if he, too, had telekinetic powers to draw from. It should have been impossible. No one had ever been able to escape this kind of trap. He hadn’t even lost his concentration, which could have weakened the resistance of the snare.

The guy slowly raised both arms over his head. The aura surrounding him shattered as though made of cheap glass, and he was free.

Silver snapped out of his reverie, barely in time to avoid a direct attack from the other. He flew up a couple feet and stared down at the creature, who now looked menacing enough to be worth mentioning.

“Okay, let’s do it your way then” he muttered through gritted teeth, and charged again.

It barely felt like a battle, instead turning very soon into a fast-paced dance, if a mortal dance at that. They twisted and leaped around each other, lunging to attack one another at the first hint of weakness. They never touched the ground, but they did fly up and down and up again enough times to make a less accustomed fighter feel dizzy.

Since direct telekinetic attacks seemed useless, Silver resorted to picking up metal hunks and boulders from the ground and throwing them at his adversary to try and catch him off guard. It proved fruitless, though: whatever being the other was, he was extraordinarily fast, and, much like Vector had said, he seemed to notice projectiles coming at him even from behind, flying out of the way with a graceful move.

It was sheer luck, the hedgehog thought, that the plan had been to hold him off for as long as they could. He didn’t know how much time had passed since they’d started fighting, but it felt like an eternity. His fur was sweaty and dirty, and the sunset light and smoke-filled air made his head pound and his breath grow ragged.

It felt like Iblis all over again, except there was no monster in front of him, just some overpowered person who didn’t seem at all fazed by his efforts.

Then, something changed.

Silver saw the atmosphere around them shift and transform in the blink of an eye. His opponent seemed to be the source of it, though he had made no overtly grand movement. Where before the air had been filled only with dirt and smog, now there were clouds of bright red matter hovering threateningly, the same vibrant red as the gem embedded in his chest, which had started glowing more brightly with each passing second.

In a moment, Silver found himself upside down.

One second he was floating next to a collapsed building, and the one after he was standing on the ceiling in one of the rooms, the ruined floor feet under his head. Or above it. Argh, it made no sense.

He tried to move, to get back in position, but every time he did the situation grew worse. The world seemed to spin around him, making him feel dizzy as he walked on walls, broken furniture, even the sky itself. When he attempted to raise his right hand, the left moved, and he never knew in which direction he was turning to.

Then the other attacked.

The hedgehog was kicked around countless times, at the complete mercy of his enemy. Every time he felt that he’d found a sense to it all, he stumbled and ended up with strange hands wrapping around his neck. At some point he seemed to have gained some lucidity, but now he was fighting against tens of enemies, all identical to each other and fluctuating in circles around him like vultures.

_Snap out of it! Come on, come on, you can’t stop now, you can’t…_

And then, as suddenly as it had started, it was over. He opened his eyes to see himself laying on the ground, his limbs aching even in places he hadn’t known the existence of before. The mask was turned in his direction now, and there was a hint of amusement in that yellow eye.

“You are nothing” the creature said. His voice was oddly cavernous, as if it had travelled miles underground before coming out from behind that mask.

“I am not nothing” Silver grunted, struggling to sit up. A piercing pain in his chest made him hold his breath for a moment, but he would not stop talking, not now. “My name is Silver, and you’re going to pay for all the problems you’re causing.”

There was a faint click of a gun loading somewhere behind him. With a start, he realized that the soldiers must have gotten in position by then. He had lost his earpiece about halfway through the battle, and his wrist comm had disappeared during the hallucinations he’d been subject to, but no doubt they had waited so that they could get their target clear on their line of shooting, without his own meddling and putting himself in front of them. 

They shot now, a chorus of blasts echoing at the same time.

Not one of them hit its mark.

With a small, almost careless gesture of his hand, the guy surrounded himself with a red haze, crackling with static like the ancient tv he and Blaze had found buried when they’d been seven. Once they’d entered that nebulous area, the bullets flew in every direction, some upwards, some downwards, some spinning on themselves for a few seconds before exploding.

Then he opened his arms, and a blast of energy erupted from him in waves, hitting everything that surrounded them in a twenty-feet radius.

Now there were groans and yells of pain raising from every corner, making Silver’s blood freeze in his veins. How many had died, because of his pointless mission? How many had been injured?

But he could not move. He didn’t know if the guy was operating his magic, of it was the weariness of the battle, but his legs weighed him down as if filled with lead, and he tasted blood in his mouth, his vision swimming before him.

“You and your friends are nothing” the other repeated, smugly. “When all of this is done, and you will have lost all hope, your names will be forgotten, and those who survive will only remember mine. No one will dare forget the wrath of Infinite.”

It was a pompous speech, worth some of Eggman’s worst ones. If the one declaring it hadn’t just dragged him to dust, Silver would have almost found it funny. As it was, he just spat out: “So your name is Infinite, uh? Why are you talking about yourself in third person? That doesn’t sound encouraging at all.”

He didn’t know why he was rambling. Maybe, if he could just buy some more time, someone would come for them. Maybe there had been time for a distress call before all the soldiers had fallen. Maybe…

Infinite’s hand was at his throat before he could form another coherent thought. “You think yourself to be funny” he said, slowly. “A pity nobody is going to hear you.”

Silver closed his eyes. Well, so much for his brave attempt. He hoped that at least Knuckles and Amy would get a hold on the Master Emerald before they lost their momentum. That way he would not have died in vain, but only in the most stupid way possible.

There was a blast, and a shout, and a clanging sound.

The hedgehog cracked an eye open. He wasn’t dead, from what he could gather, but the pressure on his throat had relented, and something was amiss with Infinite, something his woozy mind could not place immediately.

Then he realized.

Infinite had lost his mask.

He had to be some sort of hyena or jackal. His yellow eye was still there, but the other one, previously hidden by the mask, was of a bright blue, and a deep red scar ran vertically through it. He looked confused and irritated, but without the majestic air the mask had given him, he appeared oddly normal, out of place in a battlefield like that.

He was turned away from Silver. The hedgehog followed his gaze and blinked, stunned.

Gadget was pointing his still fuming Wispon at Infinite. He was holding it in both hands, and it was clear on his face that he was as shocked by the outcome as Silver himself.

He must have hidden away from the rest of the troop. A clever idea, though it would not save him in the end. Infinite would probably set him on fire or something for his insolence before returning to finish Silver, too fast for them to be saved by another back-up hovercraft.

But Infinite did no such thing. His fingers opened, as if he had forgotten that he’d been holding onto Silver, and he kept staring at Gadget, his brow furrowed, intensely focused.

And Gadget…The wolf had paled considerably all of a sudden. He looked fit to faint, as if he had just seen a ghost walk through walls before his eyes.

It would have been the perfect time to attack. But Silver barely felt his arms, and raising them seemed a task for stronger people.

And for all that it looked as if they’d gazed at each other for half a century, it was only a handful of seconds before Infinite turned away and raised his head, like a dog sniffing the air.

Then he disappeared. He didn’t walk away, nor fly out of sight: there was just a flash of red light, like the bloodiest lightning in the universe, and he was gone.

They stood there, blinking away the light, too stunned too even begin to comprehend what had just happened.

Then Silver felt his arms give in, and he collapsed backwards.

Gadget had to have gotten over his shock, because he was at his side in a second, his Wispon clattering on the ground. He caught the hedgehog in his arms before he could bang his head on the curb, and he started to ramble, panic rising in his voice. “Oh, Goddess, okay, okay, please don’t die Silver, alright? I called for reinforcements, they’re gonna be here in a moment, just…just stay awake, please.”

Silver had every intention of doing so, but his head just felt so heavy, and his eyes were closing on their own. He muttered something that in his mind sounded like “at least you shot him and not me this time”, but since someone had filled his mouth with cotton, all that came out was an incomprehensible garble.

Gadget was still shaking him and calling his name, but it felt unbearably distant as he shut his eyes and drifted off, far away from the pain and Infinite’s lingering memory.

 

 

There was an incessant beeping sound coming from the control board of the hovercraft.

It hadn’t stopped in a while, and Knuckles was this close to smashing the whole board to pieces just to make it _shut up_. His nerves were frayed enough as it was.

He hadn’t signed up for this. His place was on Angel Island, guarding the Master Emerald and being occasionally bothered by Sonic and the tail of trouble he usually dragged behind himself. He was no war leader, and he was just about fed up of being addressed as “Commander, sir” or related variants by nearly everyone.

But he couldn’t shirk away from his duty. The Resistance counted on him, these kids playing at soldiers counted on him. And unless this mission proved successful, he’d probably have no emerald to guard ever again.

If only Sonic and Tails had been at his side. They were the cause of about half of his life problems, but they were also his friends, and he felt their absence like a missing limb. But then again, if Sonic hadn’t been taken, Tails wouldn’t have lost his reason, and they wouldn’t have ended up in this mess to begin with.

Nothing to be done, then. He couldn’t hope to improve anything without the Master Emerald.

If only someone could stop that _damn_ beeping.

The door slamming open prevented him from asking the pilot to turn the volume down or something, and he turned around to find himself face to face with Amy. The pink hedgehog was panting, as if she had run the whole length of the hovercraft looking for him.

“Knuckles! There you are!” She exclaimed, after a brief pause to catch her breath. “Change of plans! We have to turn back.”

“What?! We’re almost reached the access point!” It would have been stupid to just up and leave, not to mention extremely dangerous. They’d been lucky not to get spotted on their way down, even with the excellent pilots they had. Turning tail now would mean exposing themselves too much, which could only lead to Eggman noticing them and moving the emerald to another location before they could try again.

“I know, but this is way more important. Look!” She shoved her communicator in his face, visibly shaking in excitement. Knuckles blinked, trying to make sense of the blurry lines of text running on the screen.

“The security in one of Eggman’s bases went down inexplicably” Amy said before he could even voice his confusion. “Some of ours managed to get in and hack at the security system itself. They got the cameras’ records, no wait, better, they found _live footage_.”

She grabbed his shoulders, staring at him with the most genuinely hopeful expression he’d seen on her face in the last couple months. “They’ve found him, Knuckles. They found where Eggman’s keeping Sonic.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First thing first: I had planned to include more scenes in chapter 8 than what you see here now. I changed my plans halfway through because I realized it would turn into a over-7000-words monster published who knows when, with lots of things happening around the same time and/or overlapping, so I decided to split it in two to better fit the fic's flow. But! This means that you got this update sooner, and that the next one is already in the works, so most probably you won't have to wait a month for that either.  
> Then, putting aside serious matters: this is definitely NOT a good day for Silver. I'm sorry for all Silver lovers out there, I KNOW, I AM one of y'all and this is NEEDED. Also I had to put in some bits about his overconfidence because there's always that moment where you can physically see Silver act too cocky just before karma kicks in. Those are the times where I like to put down the game/comic, drop my head into my hands and groan loudly because yes, I chose to love THAT hedgehog.  
> As usual, if there's something amiss, tell me and I'll fix it. Love you guys! See you soon!


	9. Get down ladies (You've got nothin' to lose)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Usual warning for (not overtly graphic) violence

_We’re not going to get out of here alive._

It was the kind of thought that could make anyone drop their weapons and give up on fighting. It would have been a relief to do so, even, because Blaze was just so _tired_ , of a bone-deep tiredness that made every muscle in her arms ache as she raised them to launch another attack, heaving and panting and with no time to catch her breath.

She had yet to throw the towel, though, because the choice between going down with a fight and simply letting Eggman lock them up again was no choice at all. He would not break her down easily, not when Iblis had tried and failed for so long to do the same thing, but she owed Sonic the chance not to get tortured ever again.

If only they’d stopped coming at her, just for one second.

She stopped a blow directed to her head and snapped, setting on fire the Shadow that had tried to get it in. It felt weird, to think of more than one Shadow, as it did more than one Chaos, but they just kept emerging from the deepest corners of the hall, so many that they had to be clones or robot replicas built by Eggman. It had not come as a surprise, for she knew deep down that even in a frenzy the real Chaos would not have hurt her, but it did leave her with a deep worry about what the doctor might have been doing since she’d last seen him in the mirror pond.

Not enough time to think about that, though. It’d have to wait for safety, along with a long list of other questions, or get lost when they finally managed to push her down from the platform.

_Will I see Tikal again, though, if I die for r-STOP IT!_

She turned just in time to draw a line of flames between Sonic and a Wasp Eggbot that had lunged at him. The hedgehog had been putting up a brave fight, for someone who could barely get up from the ground without help, but protecting them both was an exhausting feat, and it proved increasingly more so as her punches grew weaker and her steps faltered more often while the flow of Chaoses and Shadows and Metal Sonics and the occasional nosey bot never seemed to stop.

But it didn’t matter. She hadn’t had water, food or any kind of rest in hours, but she’d be damned in every kind of afterlife that existed before allowing herself to give up.

_But if they take Sonic…_

_No. Over my dead body._

Blaze felt the ground shake before she even noticed her enemies disappearing. She looked up, dumbfounded, as the clones vanished into thin air, leaving her and Sonic alone on the platform, now vibrating under her feet as though under the first waves of an earthquake.

But an earthquake would have made no sense. Chances were they were on a spaceship orbiting somewhere, and the metallic island they were trapped on was either levitating or sustained by pillars, for various plaques had fallen during the fight, revealing more of the bottomless cavity underneath and putting her at risk of losing her balance. So what was really happening?

Eggman was laughing. He’d been hollering and chortling all through the battle, occasionally shouting words of encouragement or orders to his brainless minions, but now he sounded positively thrilled, like a child seeing a pile of gifts under his Christmas tree.

“It looks like we’re having company!” The doctor exclaimed, rubbing his hands together. “May I present you my new associate?”

There was…something on the other end of the platform. It looked like a vortex, a small nebula rotating and opening right in front of her eyes, something dangerous and foreign whose sole sight made her taste bile in her mouth.

 _A black hole_ , her mind supplied, but that was not correct either. The center was black, yes, a dark void that seemed to engulf any light surrounding it, but tendrils of smoke-like matter were coming out, clouds of glitching red fading into purple the closer they twirled around the center.

It looked like the interferences they’d seen into the pond. It looked, most importantly, like the darkness that had stolen her away.

She moved backwards, slowly, testing the ground under her feet until she reached the point where Sonic was kneeling down. The hedgehog had been bent in two only moments later, wheezing and swaying as he caught his breath, but now he stared at the vortex with wide eyes, an arm wrapped around his torso.

“That’s not good” he whispered. “That’s not good, that’s not good at all.”

“What is it?” Blaze asked, worried despite herself for the almost palpable alarm in his voice. “Sonic, what’s that thing?”

“It’s his friend. The one who messed with my head. Don’t believe anything you see, it’s all fake, he’s only gonna show you hallucinations!”

“He?” But there was no more time for questions. Something stepped out of the void, gaining shape and form the closer it got to them.

The flashes of red and dark violet did not allow her to see any detail, only a glinting yellow eye in a sea of red and a puff of dirty white fur floating around whatever being that was, and what reminded her curiously of a Chaos Emerald fused with his body.

Then a blinding red light erupted from him, and Blaze found herself thrown in the air.

It was the most disconcerting thing she had ever experienced. She tried lunging at him, throwing fire balls at him, even surrounding him with the blue flame whose existence she’d just learned of, but nothing worked. He just inclined his head or waved his hand, and all her efforts would dissipate, leaving her at his mercy.

She tried to remember what Sonic had said to her. He was just messing with her, toying with her as one would do a doll or a puppet. She was not walking on the walls, or seeing the world upside down; she had not moved at all, except for the times he had physically hit her.

But Sonic could not help her now. He was far from her, sometimes mere feet away, sometimes what felt like miles, and she could barely move of her own accord, let alone hit her opponent without damaging her friend in the process. The world was red, red and black and painful, and her powers could do nothing about it.

Unbidden, a memory she had thought buried and forgotten came to her mind. All of this was oddly similar to what she’d felt in her childhood, when she and Silver had been too young to fight and instead had spent their days roughhousing and building a tentative friendship.

Silver had barely started getting a grasp on his powers, and he would often lose control of them, pushing her around and trapping her in an invisible prison. He would always apologize profusely, and he had never done much damage, but she had never forgotten the fear of those first few days, of moving only at the leisure of someone else and not controlling her own body as she was hurled up towards the ceiling.

But she was not afraid now, she realized after snapping out of what must have been a sleep-deprivation induced fever dream. She had been a child then, fragile and scared and unaware that the boy moving her with his mind would grow up to become her best friend in the whole universe. Past Blaze would have taken one look at this creature and run to safety in a heartbeat.

Present Blaze had grown up. She’d faced Iblis on her own to protect her world, and she’d watched the same world be born and bleed and be saved more times than she could count while sitting next to the girl she loved, and that this stranger, this person who she’d never once met, would think himself stronger than all that had come before him and that would come after – that he’d remind her of Silver, this disgusting creature who would not even show his face behind the ugly mask he was sporting and who had hurt Sonic more than Eggman’s torture devices would ever be able to – was utterly ridiculous.

She did not feel any fear.

In that moment, she felt only anger.

Instinctively, Blaze raised her hand. She’d spent the last minutes, or hours, or eternity for all that mattered, not knowing where the other one had been, growing tall and fearsome or small and quick, moving faster than lightning to avoid her grasp and duplicating to confuse her mind.

Now, there was a sudden, inexplicable clarity to her senses. Without thinking, but simply _knowing_ that it would work, she held out her hand and found her fingers wrapping around his wrist.

He froze. He made an aborted motion to jerk out of her hold, his shock blatant even with the mask, but she did not let go. She smiled, instead, all sharp teeth and bright eyes. She could feel fire in every corner, not only bubbling under her skin and bursting from her hands, but waiting in the damaged cables running through the walls, lingering in the robot carcasses she’d left behind.

When she did let go, and he tried to use his powers, to summon those red cubes and hypnotize her again, Blaze called all that fire upon her, and she rose.

She flew up of her own accord, this time, meeting him at eye level when he tried to hover above her. Eggman was screaming, trying to recall his clones and his machines: a glance from her made the screen burst, frizzling and crackling with electricity. She found herself surrounded by flames, circling her like a protective sphere, and it felt _right_.

Every time her opponent tried to use his tricks on her, she stroke back, with a grace that would not have come naturally to her in the weariness of before. She set on fire every copy of himself he tried to create, and though she never could reach the gemstone embedded in his chest, her flames kept licking at his body, and sooner or later he would get damaged enough to let her finish him.

She would have kept at it for a long time, any trace of hunger or thirst vanished from her body, but then she looked down, and she stopped. Sonic was safe from her: her fire obeyed her, and never would have touched anyone without her consent, that much was crystal clear in her mind. But he seemed to have reached the end of his energies, for he was lying on the platform, breathing in small gasps and staring up at her with vacuous eyes.

There was no more time. She had to bring him to safety, and she’d have to take down whatever could wish to stop them. It was not the day for playing cat and mouse.

And her enemy was meek as a mouse now, Blaze thought. It left an amused smile plastered on her face as she closed her eyes and took a deep, deep breath.

When she exhaled, she felt herself burst, like a volcano dormant for a thousand years.

 

 

The city was eerily quiet, compared to the Resistance base.

It was to be expected, when cramming leaders and soldiers and helpless refugees in what was nothing more than a couple glorified tunnels, but that did not make the whole thing less unnerving. Tails couldn’t remember the last time he’d been able to work without being surrounded by people running or children crying or, even worse, his friends asking about his wellbeing.

But now, there was no one except for him and what remained of Omega.

It should have been unnerving, to be out in the open like that, with no company and next to nothing to protect himself: and in truth he kept looking behind his shoulders, waiting for Eggman’s creations to pop around the corner and shoot him in the back. But it also filled him with a quiet sort of determination, to know that no one would try to stop him.

Not that he didn’t appreciate the kind words his friends had offered him. He knew that they were all trying their best, that Amy was holding everyone together by sheer will alone and that Knuckles had way too many people to lead for his liking. He’d tried to play along, especially at the very beginning, nodding along to their plans and handing out Wispons to those deemed strong enough to use them.

But they kept saying that it hadn’t been his fault, and that was a lie. It had been no one’s fault but his. He should have helped Sonic more. He’d failed them. He’d failed _Sonic_.

So there he was, trying to make amends. He still felt guilty for leaving the others to their own devices, but they would be fine without him. The Resistance had plenty of other pilots and mechanics, volunteers who unlike him had not lost their heads even when faced with failure after failure.

But tracking down Omega, that was something he’d managed to do right. And since Rouge had said that the robot had seemed to lose track of reality right before Shadow had disappeared, claiming not to recognize its surroundings and that its new mission was to attack its teammates, chances were that it had been either hacked or attacked by their reality-manipulating enemy. And if Tails could repair it and gain access to its memory files, maybe they could learn more about Eggman’s plans. Maybe they would even discover what had happened to Shadow to make him follow the mad doctor.

And even if all else were to fail, Rouge would be happy to see Omega once again. The bat had been nothing if not determined in doing her part, acting as a connection between the Resistance and GUN, but losing the rest of Team Dark had hit her hard, especially since her friends had gone down during one of their missions. She rarely talked about it if not in curt, short summaries meant to explain what exactly they were fighting against, but anyone with a brain could see the toll it was taking on her. She probably blamed herself for it, from time to time.

Tails could hardly be the one to begrudge her for that.

Luckily, Omega’s main body seemed to be reacting positively to his repairs. Some parts of its protective shell would need to be replaced, but nothing had happened to it that he couldn’t fix.

The main problem would be rebooting the robot’s mechanical brain without erasing its recent memories. Whoever or whatever had taken it down had done a very thorough work, frying core elements of its system. It would take a long time to put it all to rights, even more so without dragging Omega all the way back to the base.

It sure had chosen a very inconvenient spot to shut down, huddled in an anonymous street corner, so far from their usual rounds that it might never been found, had someone not sent a drone camera to check on a crack that had opened nearby. The damage and subsequent shutdown had turned off Omega’s GPS locator, and if Tails hadn’t checked that video and caught those precious few frames during his hunt, he might have had to give up entirely.

But he was there now. The crack that might have saved Omega’s “life” was still there, too, looming threateningly not a block away, but Tails couldn’t afford to pay attention to it, nor to feel scared by its unnatural colors and shape. He had to work, and when he worked, nothing mattered but the tools in his hands and the projects he was mentally drafting.

“You’re gonna be just fine” he muttered, jamming his screwdriver between two metal bar with perhaps a bit more force than necessary. “You’ll be up and helping in no time at all.”

Yeah. And then they’d find Shadow, and then Sonic, and then maybe Tails could fall asleep one night without being plagued by nightmares, without thinking that his best friend was still a prisoner and suffering and that it was his fault his fault his his his…

It was the noise that betrayed Chaos. In a city that had been evacuated weeks prior, any noise beside distant fighting was bound to be noticed.

Therefore, Tails’ thoughts dissipated as soon as his ears caught up with the bubbling and sizzling behind him, and he turned in time to see the creature slip out of a manhole, still in liquid form. It gained shape in front of his eyes, standing on two legs and staring at him with those creepy, iris-less eyes.

Tails’ hands were sweating. He adjusted his grip on the wrench he was holding, his mind travelling at the speed of sound, trying to form a plan of attack.

He was alone. Nobody would notice he’d not gotten back to the base until it was too late. He could fly out of Chaos’ reach, yes, and its powers would be limited without all seven Chaos Emeralds, but it would not buy him that much time. And he had no weapons, bar his tools and the still unresponsive Omega. He was, in short, pretty much doomed.

_If Sonic were here he’d know what to do._

Sonic wasn’t there, though. And Tails refused to cower behind a wall and wait for Chaos to grab him by…well, by the tails, so he stepped up, gritting his teeth and preparing for a fight.

Then, many things happened in a matter of seconds.

The crack that had been floating inconspicuously in the air only a moment before erupted in a shock of blinding red. It was enough to make the both of them stop on their tracks, and Tails turned instinctively, thrusting up a hand to cover his eyes.

The light was so strong that he could barely make out the figure running out of the crack before it was jumping, landing violently on Chaos.

 _It’s Sonic, it’s him, he came back for me_ the fox thought wildly for a second. It was not possible, obviously, but Sonic had done impossible things before, and he’d always, _always_ survived to tell the tale.

He was, as he discovered, only partially correct. By the time the newcomer had managed to stamp out Chaos’ attacks, sending it retreating back down the sewer, the light had subsided quite a bit, and Tails could finally see who had just saved him.

It was not his best friend. The delusion lasted only for a couple seconds, though: there were now a thousand and one questions making their way in his brain, because it was another blue hedgehog, smaller and rounder and with dark eyes that peered around curiously, as if he didn’t really know what had just happened either.

The other Sonic, if one would believe it. The one that had come from another dimension to help them out in the past.

Tails locked eyes with him, and his throat went dry. He should have said _thank you_ , for a start. _Welcome back_. _That was amazing_ , or something of the sort.

“What…” he stuttered, instead. “What exactly are _you_ doing here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I started this fic I had not written an action scene since about 2014. I was abysmally scared, because I wanted to do it RIGHT, to show you readers how pumped I was while writing this story. I will be scared until the story is over, probably.  
> But while I was writing Blaze's fight with Infinite, I let Spotify do its shuffle thing, and it provided me with a girl cover of the song that gave this fic its title. Not gonna lie, it was the most epic, empowering coincidence in my life, so I hope the resulting writing craze is as good as I thought it would be, and not a jumbling mess.  
> Also, Tails. I went back to rewatch the Classic Sonic arrival cutscene, and I was as disappointed as I had been the first time. I honestly don't think Tails would just freak out and call for Sonic (though I'm always open to other interpretations), so...yeah, I tried to give the fox boy some dignity here. And now instead of the portal hearing him yell Sonic's name and a Sonic appearing as a deus ex machina, it looks like the crack read his mind and sent him what he wanted anyway. You know, like Amazon ads.  
> So many new unanswered questions! What's gonna happen? What are they gonna do? We'll see in the next chapters! Love you guys, see you in the comments, next time OR you can shoot me an ask on Tumblr if you just wanna chat! (I'm naivesilver there too, and I'm honestly baffled that I never put it anywhere here)  
> Bye!


	10. When it feels like the world's gone mad (And there's nothing you can do about it)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! Mentions of death and violence, as usual.

_Open your eyes._

There was a routine to getting back up after the fighting was done, as Blaze had found over the years. You couldn’t just lie down and expect medical care to come to you, or other people to pick up the pieces of what you had just done. More often than not, the aftermath of a battle was a lonely affair, a sudden absence of noise where you were supposed to get up on your own and see to yourself and to others as quickly as possible.

_Open your eyes. Take a step forward._

Blaze had built her own routine after a while. She had realized at a pretty young age that she could get back to work sooner if she pictured her body as foreign to her, giving it orders and getting it to move for as long as it took for the shock to settle in and for her to find a safe space to recover.

As a young girl, the voice guiding her through these motions had sounded suspiciously like her mother’s. Now it felt oddly similar to Tikal’s voice, as if they’d been together in their hut once more, the echidna lulling her back to sleep after a nightmare.

_Open your eyes. It’s okay. Take a step forward, and then another. Breathe. Please, breathe for me._

Blaze released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Then and only then she opened her eyes.

She was standing on the platform floor. Weird, the last she remembered was of her body flying up, and then a shock of flames drowning everything else.

_Wait._

Why had she been flying?

What in the name of Chaos had just happened to _her_?

Blaze’s breath itched in her throat as she tried to piece together the memories with what she could now see around herself. Eggman’s ally, the one whose face she hadn’t seen – he’d tossed her around as one would a rubber ball. She’d been completely in his power. So why wasn’t he here now, taking his revenge on her for resisting him? Even the screen from which Eggman had loomed over them had blown up, glass shattered and pieces of wire sprouting from every corner. There was no one in sight, only her and Sonic’ motionless body, laying a few feet from her.

_Doesn’t matter now. Sonic needs you. Go to him. Go to him now._

She rushed to his side – or, better, she would have rushed, had she not realized after a couple steps that it just would not have worked. There was not an inch of her body that was not hurting, her muscles throbbing as though she had just climbed a mountain bare-handed. Exhaustion made her head feel light, and it was all she could do not to topple over as she knelt down beside Sonic, her joints aching like those of an old woman.

It had been a hard fight, the cat reasoned as she shook her friend’s arm, urging him to open his eyes, to move, _something_. It had drained all energy from her body, and she’d already reached her limit beforehand, worn out by prior fighting and the adrenaline rush from everything that had happened in the past hours.

But she had won in the end, hadn’t she? She’d sent him scurrying away with his tail between his legs, scared by her flames like a cowardly dog. And nothing more than that he was: Eggman’s little lapdog, trying to fight her as if she hadn’t been all but bursting with power, too strong to even consider failure…

Blaze froze, her hand clutching Sonic’s arm tighter. The memories were rushing in now, flooding her mind like a tidal wave. _Stop_ , she begged despite herself. _This makes no sense. That was not me._

But it _had_ been her, and there was no stopping the truth, not now that she could almost relive what had happened, watch it unfold like a movie in her mind. Fire everywhere, in and out of her, her consciousness tearing at the seams and letting more flames bleed out.

And power. Endless power, filling her body like life blood.

Nothing of the sort had ever happened to her, but that wasn’t what frightened her. Blaze had been dealing with supernatural strengths all of her life, and they’d stopped scaring her the moment she had learned how to control them. If new powers had been the problem, she would have turned her back to Sonic and run for dear life the moment she had seen the blue flames light up the cell block, what felt like ages past.

The powers weren’t the issue. But they had come from nowhere.

She could distinctly remember the energy rushing her previously exhausted mind, strengthening her fire and making her feel invincible. Only once before she’d felt anything close to that, and it had been when she’d torn the emeralds from Silver’s hands, using their power to take down Iblis.

There were no Chaos Emeralds around now, though. There’d been only her and her enemy – and rage, red hot rage bubbling like bile in her throat and drowning her every other thought.

She feared that rage, and she feared not knowing, having something new and dangerous inside of her and not having control over it.

Blaze was shaking. In fear or in tiredness, she did not know, but her hands had started shaking uncontrollably, and she only realized when Sonic opened his eyes and shifted under her grasp. She willed herself to stop it. _There’s no time for it now. Focus. Sonic first._

“You put on quite a show” the hedgehog said, with a laugh that soon turned into a cough. “What the hell just happened?”

“I…I don’t know for sure” she replied, hating the doubt in her voice. She was supposed to steel her mind and save them both, dammit, not lose her head like that. “Where is everyone? Where did they go?”

“You scared them away, I think. The masked one, he must have teleported away, and Eggman was never here to begin with. He likes to cheer for his precious bots from a distance.”

His voice had lowered down to a whisper, frequently interrupted by his ragged breaths. Blaze put a hand on his shoulder, shaking her head. “It’s okay. Save your strength. I’m getting us out of here.”

Yes, but how? They had no clear way out. They were still trapped on their island, and even if she managed to find an exit, she would have to jump to reach it, and take Sonic with her, or throw him in the air like a sack of potatoes, which would have made for an hysterical scene had they not been locked in a giant maze. In the distance she could feel alarms blaring and the sputter of motors, and the lights above their heads were flickering if not outright turned off; it was not a stretch to think that whatever they were travelling on must have been damaged by her outburst, thrown off its course and with possibly no pilots to set it to rights.

All of this without taking in account her own physical stability. At that point Blaze would have given everything to be able to lay down, just collapse on the ground next to Sonic, close her eyes and _rest_. She wasn’t sure that even a simple action as getting up would not make her vision swim and sway, and throwing Sonic over her shoulders and just going on seemed an impossible feat.

Perhaps she had abused of whatever power had possessed her. She’d done so often as a child, before she’d learned what her limits were and the toll pyrokinesis took on her body. But having overtired herself here would have meant dooming them both. She could not accept it, she could _not_.

There was a new noise reaching her ears, a faint and distant clanging, as that of metal banging against metal. _Robots,_ her mind supplied urgently. _Get up, you have to get up now._

Blaze let go of Sonic. Slowly, steadying herself at every move, she got up, clenching her jaw to fight the dizziness that overcame her. “Stay behind me” she said to her friend, more out of reflex than anything else. It was hardly as if he could move, after all.

It didn’t matter. The noise was growing louder by the second, and she would not let Eggman’s machines find her struggling. She’d fight them on her feet, and she’d die on her feet if necessary. She braced herself, fists closed, waiting for the enemy to come.

And then a spaceship burst through the wall.

Blaze blinked, stunned. Had it been a less exciting day, she would have taken this as a fever dream. As it was, having an aircraft fly towards her didn’t even rank in the three weirdest events of the last few hours: and besides, in no dream she would have felt the smoke coming from the engine, or the platform vibrating under her feet as the thing landed carefully at the other end of the hall. _It’s too heavy. It’s going to make the island collapse_ she found herself thinking, irrationally. The metal plaques had sustained all of the creatures Eggman had thrown at her, and falling a couple thousand feet would not be the worst outcome if the ship was loaded with other Eggbots.

But it was quite the sight, watching it land. She had quickly reassessed her first impression: more than a spaceship, which she had seen sparingly in the pond, it reminded her of a hovercraft, or a flying tank, compact and solid and probably of considerable weight. And when a door opened on the side of it, no robots came out.

Instead, Amy Rose of all people rushed out.

“Sonic!” She yelled, running towards them, hammer in hand. Meanwhile, Knuckles appeared behind her, looking as grim and ready to fight as she did.

It took them a couple seconds to realize that their friend wasn’t alone. Blaze could pinpoint the moment it happened, when they skidded to a halt, confusion etched deep on their faces.

“What?” Amy said, barely audible. She took a couple more steps towards her, frowning. “Blaze? What are you…?”

Knuckles was much brusquer, but no less surprised. “We thought you were dead. Silver said you were dead.”

“It seems I was not” Blaze heard herself say, smiling. It was out of place, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. If earlier she had detached herself from her body as a mean of survival, now it seemed that she could not close the distance again. She felt in a daze, as if floating up and away from reality, and oddly giddy. She supposed being finally able to give in to the exhaustion, relief washing over her as someone whole and well-rested took the reins, could do that to a body. Perhaps that was what taking drugs felt like.

“But how? What happened – what are you doing _here_?” Amy asked.

Blaze shook her head and gestured vaguely behind herself. “I’ll explain later. You need to take care of Sonic.” The hedgehog had not reacted to his friends’ arrival, so there was a great chance of him already having passed out. If that was the case, they needed to hurry up before it was too late.

Instantly, they seemed to remember who they’d been looking for. Amy ran past her to check on Sonic, while Knuckles bellowed some orders towards the ship before doing the same. A handful of people walked out, most of them wearing mismatched pieces of armor, while two of them carried what looked like a stretcher.

And all the while Blaze stood there, breathing, waiting. She knew she would soon have to answer their questions, and then she would finally have the chance to ask some of her own, before her brain burst for lack of understanding.

But first, she hoped someone would lead her to a place where she could sit and let the shock seep in, get a grip on herself before she had to face the others.

She thought she kind of deserved it.

 

 

 

Silver came to his senses slowly, painstakingly and, most of all, unwillingly.

It had been so peaceful before that, the darkness wrapped around him like a thick black blanket. He’d have stayed like that forever, resting and sleeping, with no jackal to push him around like a bully on a playground.

But somebody was speaking in the general vicinity, and while not loud, they were not extremely quiet either. And as Silver regained consciousness enough to understand what they were saying, he became aware of a number of other things, some more welcome than others.

He was laying down, for starters. It felt, at first instinct, like a bed – not the comfiest one could have, but he’d slept on worse, and it was still a nice reprieve from the ground. There was even a pillow.

There was also a weird feeling of constriction around his body, and with that came a dull pain that pierced his chest in a few spots. _Ugh._ That was precisely why he’d rather stayed asleep.

“…Understood. Yessir. I’ll make sure they’re waiting for you in the hangar.” It was Gadget’s voice, that much was certain. Silver could not hear whoever he was replying to, so likely he was responding to orders given through his earpiece. At least _he_ hadn’t been foolish enough to lose it on the battlefield, like Silver himself had. “M-hm. Perfectly clear. Of course, Commander. Thank you. I’ll get on with it immediately.”

There was a click, and then Gadget exhaled, deeply and slowly. He must have closed the communication.

“What was that about?” Silver mumbled, opening his eyes. He closed them right after, cursing inwardly. He understood they were underground, and that they needed strong lights, but the glare of neon was a bit much for him at the moment.

Gadget let out a garbled noise, startled. Then the hedgehog heard a chair scrape against the floor, and all of a sudden there was a new weight beside him on the bed, as if someone was leaning heavily on the mattress. “You’re awake!”

“Looks like I am.” Silver chanced another glance. The wolf was staring at him from above, a huge grin threatening to split his face in two and a look of disbelief in his golden eyes. “How long have I been out?”

“About twelve hours. It’s morning. The doctors said you’d need a lot more painkillers, but we’re running out as it is. Sorry about that.”

“Yeah, I think I’ll manage.” It wasn’t technically a lie: he’d certainly survived worst bouts of pain. But now that Gadget had mentioned them, he was even more acutely aware of his bones aching and his head pounding. It would be a fun recovery. “Did that idiot break all my limbs in the end or did he miss one?”

Gadget’s smile faltered, but he replied cheerfully enough: “Doc said that you were lucky. You’re bruised and banged all over, and some of your ribs are cracked, and you got a concussion, and they want to keep you under strict supervision since you passed out twice in less than twenty-four hours, but you should survive.”

“Thank you. That was very encouraging” Silver looked down at himself, moving the blanket out of the way. White bandages were wrapped around his torso, and countless other plasters covered spots on his limbs. He found one even on his cheek, when he tried to scratch where it itched.

All in all, not as bad as he’d expected. It had surely felt worse when he’d been slammed against a wall. He must be sturdier than he’d thought.

He gave himself a few moments, just to make sure he wouldn’t doze off again. Then he tried to push himself up, grimacing all the way. Not that laying down forever wasn’t an idea worth entertaining, but he couldn’t afford it. He wanted to stay lucid.

Gadget’s hand made an aborted motion, as if trying to stop him. “Uh, I’m not sure I should let you do that. The doctors said you needed rest.”

“I’m resting, though. See? I’m not leaving the bed.” And he wouldn’t in the next hour or so, he wagered. Judging by the throbbing in his legs, if he tried to walk on them too soon he’d probably go around hobbling like an old man. “But…I’m fine, I swear. Like, it hurts all over, but I won’t pass out again any time soon. I don’t know how he managed to take me down at all, actually.”

“He wears you out, that’s what he does” another voice cut in from his other side. “Never met anyone who could tire one down so quickly, and I hear Vector talking on a daily basis.”

Silver whipped around, suddenly aware of the rest of his surroundings. He hadn’t paid attention to them at all, so focused he’d been on Gadget.

It looked like a rundown hospital ward, or the dingiest infirmary in the world. Makeshift beds and cots lined the walls: most of them were full, but nearly everyone in them was sleeping or at least unmoving. Further away, a lynx in a white coat was talking to another patient, the murmur barely reaching them even in a mostly silent room.

Much closer, instead, was the person that had just spoken. The purple chameleon offered a tight-lipped smile in the face of Silver’s surprise, and he added: “I wasn’t expecting you to end up here, too.”

“Oh. Hi, Espio.” Right – Vector had said his friend had been injured as well.

Gadget stepped forward, frowning. “Are they dismissing you already? I thought you were supposed to stay down here a few days more.”

“I was” the chameleon said, and in truth, there was still a bandage wound around his arm, though he didn’t seem bothered by it. “But I doubt they have fighters to spare, and Vector and Charmy won’t get anything useful done until I join them again.”

Silver could empathize. He was pretty sure that sooner or later he would clash with his own doctor about how long he’d be supposed to stay in bed. Had they been at peace, he would have welcomed the time to rest, but his friends needed him. He would go back to fighting as soon as he could stand upright.

While he was pondering that, though, another thought crossed his mind _. Idiot_. Why hadn’t he remembered anything earlier? Granted, he’d just woken up and his mind was still woozy, but it should have been the first thing he’d asked.

“Gadget” he began, his tone of voice suddenly so urgent that he surprised even himself.

The other two turned to stare at him, Espio raising an eyebrow the wolf cocking his head to the side, evidently perplexed. “Yeah?”

“The soldiers that were with us. What…what happened to them? How are they?”

Gadget’s face fell. It should have been enough of an answer, and for a split second Silver wanted to stop him from saying anything, but of course he couldn’t. He had to know. “About half of them suffered minor injuries. Another two were hurt more heavily, but the doctors are optimistic. The others…”

He didn’t finish the sentence, but he had no need to. Silver was already looking away, grabbing fistfuls of blanket to prevent himself from doing something so foolish as cursing or crying or shouting at thin air.

Once again, Gadget moved as though wanting to comfort him, but he froze midmotion, instead folding his hands behind his back. He tended to do that a lot, Silver thought numbly, acting on instinct before seemingly catching himself. “They knew it could happen” the wolf said, slowly. “I know it’s not of any comfort, but they were prepared for that too.”

“I know.” It shouldn’t have hurt him so. War brought casualties: he of all people should have known that. For all that Amy had said, he’d left on what could have easily been a suicide mission. He’d have died alongside them, even, if luck and Gadget’s quick thinking hadn’t saved him.

Still. They had died because he hadn’t managed to stop Infinite, like he’d been so sure to. And he didn’t even know who had survived, what parts of the troop had made it back to the base: he remembered the green fox that had been leading them, but only barely, and almost none of the others, since he hadn’t had that much time with them before he’d rushed out to fight. He would never be able to look at the other hospital beds and know if he’d been the one to put somebody in there.

A terse silence stretched between them, only punctuated by the sound of people talking and shifting in their cots around them. Finally, Silver cleared his throat and looked up, desperate for some better news. “Did they find the Master Emerald, at least? I heard you talking with Knuckles earlier.”

“Oh!” Surprisingly, Gadget brightened up in an instant. Before Silver could ask what might possibly make him so happy, he added: “They didn’t. They barely reached that base. But it doesn’t matter, they got something better! They found Sonic!”

“What?!” Silver exclaimed. Then, lowering his voice so that the man a few beds away would stop glaring at him: “Are you serious?”

“Yes, the news reached even us down there before you woke up” Espio replied, before turning to Gadget and asking: “How is he, though? They said they’re picking him up, but not in what conditions.”

The wolf’s smile wavered. “I don’t know for sure. The commander said to have medics ready to greet them when they land, but…I’m sure he’s fine! He’s _Sonic_ , he must be, right?”

“Sure, kid” the chameleon replied, probably intending to sound reassuring. “He’s going to be all in one piece.”

“Yeah.” Silver leaned against the bedpost, trying to make sense of what he’d just heard. Having Sonic around might yet change the tide, whatever shape he was in. He wasn’t sure how they’d managed to find him, when only a day or so earlier they’d had no clue on where he was, but he wasn’t about to look a gifted hedgehog in the mouth.

He tried to dampen his excitement, in case he was sorely deluded, but between him and whatever information their fight against Infinite had gained them, they might have a true shot at winning the war. Sure, Silver hadn’t brought home much that could be of use, but he’d seen Infinite’s face! Surely it must count for something! And Gadget had seen it too, so maybe together they might be able to dig out some old records and find out what his deal was exactly.

_Hold on._

_Silver_ had seen his face. Gadget had done much more than that. In fact, he and Infinite had had an impressive staring session, despite the situation.

And Infinite had _stopped_. He could have easily killed them both with a flick of his hand: instead he’d frozen on the spot, as transfixed as Gadget himself. Silver couldn’t swear on what he’d seen, given the blows he’d received on the head, but he could remember how the wolf had paled, and how Infinite’s eyes had widened, perhaps in recognition.

“Hey, Gadget?” He heard himself asking, still lost in thought.

“Yeah, what is it?”

A second too late, Silver realized that perhaps this was not the right place or time to start this conversation. He could not back out, though, not now that the wolf was looking at him expectantly, and he could not craft a lie in so little time, so he had to continue. “Why did Infinite stop when he saw you? I mean, I know you were pointing a gun at him, but you had the same look on your face as he had. Almost like you kn-“

“Sorry.” Gadget moved so abruptly that even Espio looked at him in surprise, taking two steps towards the door before Silver could register what was happening. “I – I must go make sure everything is ready for when the commander reaches the base. I’ll see you guys around.”

Silver nodded, dumbfounded. “Huh, yeah, sure. Don’t let us keep you.” Then he added hurriedly, when the wolf was already halfway out: “Thanks for saving my life, though!”

Gadget turned, a small smile on a suddenly tense face. “It’s okay. It was my pleasure.”

Then he walked away briskly, leaving them to stare at the vacant door.

Espio turned to him, clearly perplexed. “What was that?”

“You know, I have no idea.” Silver laid back down, slowly. He’d been so engrossed in the conversation that he’d barely noticed how bad his back had been aching. Now his body felt like a giant, throbbing bruise, _and_ he was as perplexed as it came. “I have absolutely no idea.”

Great, another matter he’d have to investigate further.

He’d hoped to have reached full capacity with those.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rest assured that every time the Chaotix will pop out of nowhere in this story it will be because yours truly LOVES them and will take any chance she gets to write them.  
> I also have great fun writing introspective stuff, apparently, since this was supposed to be a short intermission chapter and it ended up longer than some of the others. Sorry about that.  
> But! This chapter set up stuff that will happen next time. Specifically one thing that I KNOW y'all have been waiting for since the beginning (because you've written it extensively in your comments and because I, too, can't wait to see it). So please forgive me for this, stay tuned for the next chapter, and as usual if there's anything I missed during editing feel free to let me know.   
> Thank you for reading! Love you all!


	11. So hear my voice remind you not to bleed (I am here)

Mercifully, someone directed Blaze towards a seat the moment she stepped inside the hovercraft.

She murmured some words of thanks and sat down carefully, fastening her seatbelt as tight as it would go. It would not do for her to pass out and flop sideways like a deflated balloon.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see people flitting around as startled birds would, the ship bustling with activity as they carried Sonic in and presumably tried to keep him stable while they flied towards a safer area. She was still worried about him, and she hoped they’d find a proper doctor for him soon, but now he’d been passed on to more capable hands. There had never been someone more apt to scare Sonic back to life than Amy Rose.

A young cockatoo with a first aid kit even approached her, a frown on her face as she tested Blaze’s soundness of mind and inspected her wounds. The cat answered all of her question as precisely as she could, even as the other girl pressed and propped at bruises and scrapes she’d barely been aware of minutes before. Yes, she was okay. No, she didn’t feel nauseous. She was just bone-deep tired and ready for a few hours of sleep, but she was unlikely to die soon.

No chance to rest immediately, though. As soon as the cockatoo left her position, clucking her tongue and advising her to keep herself in check, another hand appeared in Blaze’s field of vision, holding a big glass of water nearly full to the brim. She looked up and met Knuckles’ eyes, watching her carefully even as he offered her the drink.

“Thank you.” She held the glass with both hands as she took a few tentative sips, ever careful of what lessons she had learned about rehydration. No gulping down drinks too fast, no matter how parched she was, or else she’d make herself sick.

It was hard to restrain herself, though: after so many hours of thirst, it tasted divinely. They’d probably added some sugar or nutritional supplement, judging by how sweet it was, to keep her upright until they could give her some proper food, and even if Blaze longed for something more solid, she was still extremely grateful for the thought.

“’S no problem” Knuckles replied, crossing his arms. He did not sit down, she noted; he seemed accustomed to how the hovercraft rolled and swayed under their feet. “ _We_ should thank you, after all, for helping us find Sonic.”

“I didn’t do much on that front. I just kept him alive until you came around.”

“Yeah, and I don’t wanna think about what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.” The echidna shook his head for emphasis, then pressed on: “What _did_ happen, though? We hacked into the Death Egg’s cameras for a while and all we saw was somebody helping Sonic get out of a cell – we didn’t even know it was you, we just rushed in as fast as we could. But the place looked about to fall apart. What did Eggman do? What were you even doing there, we thought you’d died ages ago?”

It was way too many questions at the same time, enough to make her head spin. Blaze took a deep breath, composing herself before saying: “I’m not certain I can answer all that. I’m not sure of how I got here – I don’t know what Sonic was doing in a prison, or why a group of people dressed as soldiers might come and pick him up, and I hope you’ll be able to explain all that to me. But even what I know…it’s a long story, and one I don’t want to repeat too many times. I suppose there are people waiting for us, wherever we’re going, right?”

Knuckles nodded. “There’s Rouge, and Tails, and some others. You remember them, don’t you?”

“Yes.” _I spent the last months following your every move_ , she would have liked to say, but it was too early for that. They might yet think she was going crazy. “Very well. Then I’ll tell you all once we’ve reached our destination. I think it’ll be easier.”

He didn’t seem completely convinced, but in the end he shrugged, defeated. “Alright. Then you might as well rest in the meantime. It’ll be a while before we land, even though we’re going as fast as we could.”

She nodded in agreement, and Knuckles turned his back to her, evidently eager to return at Sonic’s side. Suddenly, though, he stopped, and looked at her over his shoulder. “I almost forgot – there’s your friend, too. Silver. He helped us with some stuff yesterday. I guess it’ll be good for you two, uh? I don’t know where you’ve been, but he’s never mentioned you again, so I don’t think you’ve seen each other recently.”

Her mouth processed the information before the rest of her mind could. “Silver?” She heard herself saying, stumbling. “Oh. Yes. Absolutely. It will be great.”

She would have asked more, but Knuckles was already gone, completely focused on the rest of the crew, unaware of the loop he’d just thrown her in.

Her eyes fixed on the water in her hands, looking without seeing at the way it rippled and moved along with the ship’s lulls, Blaze tried to think on what it could mean for her. She had not considered meeting Silver a possibility; she’d been too focused on surviving to think about what would come after.

But Silver travelled often to Sonic’s time, to spend time with the rest of his friends. And he was brave and reckless and generous, it would make sense for him to come to their aid if he thought them to be in a tight spot, as they clearly were.

And if he was really that close, she might see him again. No, forget seeing, she was beyond tired of just watching – she could _be seen_ by him, at last, touch him and hug him and talk to him from a place where he could hear her. Her best friend, no longer out of her reach.

It should have been a wonderful thought. And by all means, it was. Blaze could feel excitement bubbling inside her, a bright light in an otherwise tiring and confusing day, and she knew that despite her fatigue she would likely not be able to fall asleep.

And yet, it had been the straw that had broken the camel’s back, apparently. Everything she’d seen and done in the last hours was suddenly crystal clear in her mind, piling onto one another and overwhelming her as if they were physical weights dragging her down, and not just memories and lingering sensations. She couldn’t bring herself to smile, nor to relax and try to get some shut-eye. She’d rather curled on herself like a frightened child, shaking and crying.

But the seatbelts and a stubborn sense of propriety prevented her from doing such, so Blaze just sat immobile, overcome by mute shock as the crew, blissfully unaware, continued to move around her, trying to save Sonic’s life.

 

 

It seemed that Silver had, unknowingly, gained a premium spot in the infirmary.

Well, not in everyday life, technically: as it turned out, having his bed facing the door meant being woken up by every incoming doctor and visitor, or just generally being in the way of whatever was happening at the moment.

But the rumours of Sonic’s impending return had made their way through the cots, as had the news that he’d most likely be passed to the medics’ care as soon as he reached the base, and everyone wanted to be the first to see the shape their hero was. Therefore, every patient capable of walking on their two legs had amassed around the door, pushing and complaining as not to lose their place. Some of the others had been wheeled or carried over, or were craning their necks in the hope of catching a glimpse of the blue hedgehog over the heads of the crowd.

And Silver hadn’t had to move a muscle. He could lean back and wait for the show to start, as macabre as it sounded, even if he’d had to let an injured soldier sit at the feet of his bed for lack of place.

“I do hope they get a move on” the man grumbled. He was an old lemur, so wrinkled and stooped that it was a wonder they’d let him on the battlefield at all; but then again, it might also be a sad testament of the Resistance’s need of proper and healthy fighters. “I can’t imagine they’d want to waste time flying around, if he’s truly in such a bad state.”

“I’m sure they’re doing whatever they can” Silver replied, distractedly.

In truth, he was thinking about Gadget. He hoped he’d not completely alienated the wolf with his questions. He still wanted to know what exactly had happened with Infinite, but startling his new friend so had not been his intention.

Gadget was probably down in the hangar by now, making sure everyone was following their orders. Maybe he’d come back with the rest, once they’d collected Sonic, and then Silver would be able to apologize. And ask more delicate questions. And at least _try_ not to put his foot in his mouth.

He was still debating whether he should wait some more before making another attempt when the shouts reverberated from the corridor outside. “Emergency incoming!” Somebody was yelling at the top of their lungs. “Make way! Coming through!”

The crowd parted almost instinctively, leaving a gap wide enough for at least two people to pass as the noise grew louder and louder.

Then the doctors came rushing through, dragging a crash cart with them. Silver could not make out much in the few seconds they were in front of him, barrelling through the mass of people as more and more had to move out of the way: just quite a lot of medics and medical equipment, all gathered around a lifeless blue form.

Concerned murmurs rippled through the other patients as they tried to comprehend what they’d just seen. If they’d gone that way, that meant surgery room, right? And Sonic, he’d looked so still, not at all like the hedgehog some of them had watched on television sometimes…

Silver was just speechless. He’d hoped the situation would not be _this_ dire, even if he should have imagined that by the mere fact that Sonic had not run away on his own legs the moment he’d gotten the chance.

But if he wasn’t fit to fight, then…

No. He couldn’t think like that. There was still hope. Eggman had just lost his most valuable hostage. It was a step forward, however small.

Other voices were approaching, talking so low they were barely distinguishable over the chattering crowd. “Thank you, but I’m fine” one of them was saying. “One of your colleagues already did a check up on me. I’m well enough.”

It was a feminine one, and oddly familiar, though Silver couldn’t place it with so many people talking over them. And by the time he’d realized it, somebody else, probably a medic, was already replying, saying that _of course_ they needed to check her again, there could be internal damage she was not aware of, and she needed rest anyway.

The interlocutors appeared in the doorframe, then, and everyone swivelled around to see what could be going wrong now. Silver imitated them, obviously, he needed distractions, he could not spiral and think only of Sonic before he had the full pict-

He saw her, and his thoughts screeched to a halt.

For split second, he believed her to be an illusion. Perhaps someone had seen him grimace every time he’d tried to change position, and they’d finally dropped some extra drugs in his drink. Worse even, perhaps Infinite had tapped into his memories and messed with his brain far deeper than they’d considered. It would have made sense: she’d been part of his worst nightmares for so long that he couldn’t not consider her his weak spot.

But she didn’t look like the picture of her he’d framed in his mind. For starters, she was not wearing the clothes he’d come to associate with her over the years.

It was such a stupid detail for his brain to cling to, but any other coherent thought had vanished in thin air. All he could see was her white, sleeveless tunic, and soft purple pants, and _sandals_ – hell, when had he last seen her with anything but shoes made to resist even scorching fires – but it was all dirty and stained and ripped, and she moved slowly and carefully, and the nurse beside her and Gadget hovering behind them had their arms outstretched, as if ready to catch her in case she collapsed, and…

“Blaze?” He whispered, tongue thick in his mouth.

She heard him, despite the buzzing noise. She heard him and turned towards him, and he saw her freeze and the tense little smile fall from her face the moment their eyes met.

Silver moved slowly, as if in a dream. He got out of bed, ignoring the piercing pain in his chest and the hands that offered to help him up, because none of it mattered in that very moment. He took a step towards her, then another, and she did the same, the crowd parting and staring at them with bewildered expressions.

He didn’t know if it had been him who collapsed on her or vice versa, but it was Blaze who started the hug first, sneaking her arms around him and squeezing him so hard he feared another one of his ribs would pop. His own arms remained hovering awkwardly in the air, not daring touching her even if she was a solid, heavy presence against his body, fearing it would be another hallucination, another nightmare he would wake up from the moment he tried reaching for his friend.

“But…what? How?” He found himself asking, staring up over her shoulder as though he could find the answer written on the wall behind her. “You’re…You can’t be here.”

“I can. I’m here. I’m real” Blaze replied, quiet enough that Silver was sure only he could have heard her. “And you’re here too. Oh, Silver, I’m…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

He had no idea what she could be apologizing for, and in a surprisingly lucid moment he thought it was a weird few first words to hear from someone he’d thought dead for so long, but what made its way out of his mouth was only: “How…it’s impossible. How can it be possible?”

“Hush now” she whispered. “I’m gonna explain, I swear, but just…shut up for a second.”

Silver had spent half his life doing as Blaze had said, and it felt familiar, it felt pure instinct to be able to do it again. So he shut up, and finally let his arms wrap around her, feeling her warmth and breathing her scent under the faint smell of dirt and smoke, trying to convince himself that he was not dreaming.

He could not manage it completely: it was if his brain had short-circuited the moment he’d seen her, and he could not stop looking up with his eyes unfocused, the sheer magnitude of the whole thing preventing him from moving again.

But then again, he could not shake away the bizarre sensation that Blaze, while clutching at him almost desperately, as though trying to ascertain if he was real or not (and wasn’t it a funny thing, that she’d doubt _him_ to be real when she’d been the one to leave – to _die_ , she’d been _dead_ , how was she even here now when he’d seen her fade away with his own eyes), that Blaze was doing the same thing.

That tucked on his shoulder, face hidden away from him, she might be staring at nothing in mute shock, just as he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know that Doctor Who scene where the Doctor's like "I hate hugs, they're just a way to hide your face"? I hope so cause I've had that thing in my mind for about three days.  
> WE'RE HERE FOLKS! I know we're a long way from the end still, but I can't help but feel as if we've reached a major plot point. The dynamic duo is back together, but it's not a completely happy reunion. I'm sorry about that. If it helps, while working on this I asked my best friend what she'd do if she saw me again after thinking I'd died and her answer was more or less "I'd whoop your ass" so maybe it could be worse for Blaze and Silver. We'll see what it brings, shall we?  
> If you see anything wrong please tell me, I am but a prone-to-typos dumbass. Thank you for reading, and I'll see you again very soon


End file.
